


Serendipity

by funkytoes



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:55:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9308390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkytoes/pseuds/funkytoes
Summary: When Astrid Hofferson broke up with her high school boyfriend, Hiccup, shortly after graduation, she didn’t expect to see him again. Mostly because she wasn’t allowed to. An unexpected reunion brings to light some secrets about their breakup, including the fact that Astrid had been pregnant with their child.Astrid finds her old world, which she had carefully and painfully shut out, pouring back into her life as Hiccup returns to it, determined to father the child he never knew he had.(Previously posted on tumblr)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first couple chapters were written and posted on tumblr ages and ages ago (I’m talking over a year ago at least), and then sporadically posted throughout the time since, so they might be a little rough around the edges, and not that well written. But since I have so much planned for this story, I’ve decided to post it here instead of tumblr because too many chapters can get complicated over there.
> 
> I have tried to edit and polish up the already posted chapters so that they’re not so terrible, but please excuse any mistakes and the absolute awkwardness of my old writing haha
> 
> Also beware of oocness, this fic is literally unabashedly brimming with it haha. You have been warned ;)
> 
> Also this story is a hot mess especially the first two chapters holy poop on a stick.
> 
> Enjoy!

Astrid glanced at her watch. They were late. She _despised_ tardiness. But she supposed she couldn’t expect much more from an eco-friendly hippy company like this.

“Ms. Hofferson?”

She stood, turning to see a young man, painfully hipster, walk up to her. “Mr. Jackson, I presume,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Yes, yes,” he shook her hand enthusiastically, “My name is Tom, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you so much for making it up here.”

“Well, Berk is not far from Everille, so luckily it wasn’t far out of my way,” she laughed, somewhat forcefully. The man did not seem to notice, and laughed as well.

“If you come with me,” he said, turning and walking through the glass doors into the main part of the building. “We’re all very excited to speak to you.”

She nodded, following him through.

She wished she could share his enthusiasm, but frankly her coming was just a formality. And her company sending _her_ was just proof that no one there took any of this seriously. But why should they? This company she was visiting… they were going to try to convince her own to go ‘green’.That wasn’t something anyone at the old home fort was very much interested in.

The meeting was as boring as she predicted. She watched the graphs and statistics with some interest, though she knew her report would be ignored by her supervisors. She made up some bullshit about being pleased with the stats they came up with, and that she would eagerly tell her bosses what she learned, but that she could not promise anything.

“Thank you again for coming up,” Mr. Jackson said as he led her to the lobby.

“It was… an experience,” she said, smiling a little too widely.

She looked forward, too late seeing the yellow sign propped up indicating the floor was wet. She skirted to the left to avoid it, letting out a yelp as she bumped into someone. Her heels slipped on the damp floor, causing her legs to slide out from under her.

She braced herself for a fall, but found that the person she had unthinkingly walked into grabbed her, steadying her awkwardly.

For a moment, she stood there, her body at nearly a forty-five degree angle, a man of unknown details holding onto her. “Uh, thanks,” she managed, “But I think I’m fine now.”

“Right,” the man said, helping her into an upright position.

“Are you alright?” Mr. Jackson asked worriedly as she steadied herself.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, “That… happens all the time. No big deal.”

She turned to the person who caught her, and opened her mouth to thank them, when her jaw dropped slightly at who she saw. “Hi…ccup?” she asked softly.

The man before her bore little resemblance to the boy she knew. Sure, she hadn’t spoken to him in years—nearly twelve—but he was so… _different,_ and yet there was no mistake _._ Taller, he had filled out slightly, although he was still rather skinny. He looked… more mature. Older.

He looked good.

“Astrid Hofferson,” he said, giving her an odd smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Do you two… know each other?” Mr. Jackson asked.

“Yes, we were classmates in high school together,” she answered.

“Classmates,” Hiccup said, giving a short, unamused laugh which sounded more like an exhale, looking at Mr. Jackson for a moment before looking back at Astrid, “Is that all we were?”

She opened her mouth and closed it.

“No, no, I get it,” Hiccup said, “I mean, you know… what else did I expect?”

She gave a short, embarrassed exhale, and looked at Mr. Jackson, “Do you mind if we have a moment?”

“Sure, sure,” the man looked thankful for a chance to get away.

“Hiccup,” she said, turning back to the man before her as the other walked away, “It’s so nice to see you—”

“Is it?” Hiccup asked, “I mean, you… spent a lot of time making sure I knew _exactly_ what you thought of… _us._ ”

“Hiccup, I was eighteen,” she said in a loud whisper, “You can’t hold me to something I did then. It’s been over eleven and a half years.”

Hiccup regarded her. “You’re right,” he said, although he did not look convinced of these words. “You’re absolutely right.”

She took a step away from him, to get around him and head towards the large glass doors, but hesitated. “Do you… want to get some coffee?” she asked suddenly, stopping and looking at him.

“It’s… it’s three in the afternoon,” he said, glancing at his watch.

“Or tea, or water, or air, if that’s what you… green people prefer these days,” she offered.

He regarded her carefully again or a moment, before saying, “What are you up to?”

“I’m not up to anything,” she replied quietly. “I just want to talk.”

He sighed. “Well, seeing as I’m an owner of the company, I think I can make time.”

“You’re a—” her mouth dropped open, “I thought Mr. Vanchez was the owner?”

“He’s my business partner,” Hiccup replied, “He just does all the… tedious business side of things, and I oversee the… creative end of things.”

“Well, that is… right up your alley,” she said. “So… where do we stand on that coffee?”

“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Alright,” he sighed, “There’s a coffee shop downstairs, we’ll go there.”

“Great,” she answered, as she followed him down the hall and to the stairs. “We couldn’t have taken the elevators?” she asked.

“You were always athletic,” Hiccup answered, quite a few steps ahead of her, “Surely one staircase won’t kill you.”

“Of course…” she muttered, following as quickly as she could manage in her heels. They reached the floor in question and she immediately realized this was where the ‘creative things’ happened. Engineers and designers worked in offices, talking in halls, and looking like they were making scientific and social advancements in the moments they walked by. They reached a coffee shop and Astrid was relieved that there weren’t many people inside.

Hiccup ordered a coffee, and Astrid ordered a decaf tea. “I don’t want to stay up too late, I have an early flight tomorrow,” was her excuse, when Hiccup questioned this. Hiccup insisted on paying, much to Astrid’s discomfort, but soon they were tucked away in a corner booth, near windows that opened up to a grass amphitheater.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” Hiccup asked, placing the coffee on the table.

She took a sip of her tea and set the cup down. “I just wanted to talk,” she said. “I feel bad about… how things ended between us.”

“Oh, you mean how you dumped me the night we graduated and told me you never wanted to see me again? And then never returned my calls and refused to see me until I finally got the message that you didn’t want anything to do with me? Completely out of the blue?”

She gave an awkward laugh. “It’s… yes, that’s why,” she said. “Hiccup,” she looked back up at him, “I’m not… proud, of how things ended between us. I wish things could have been different—I mean… I wish… things had not ended that way. But you have to understand I had your best interests at heart—”

Hiccup’s eyebrows furrowed, “My _best_ interests _at heart?”_ he asked, incredulously.

“It’s hard to explain,” she said.

“Try me—wait, no, I don’t want to know,” he said, putting up a hand.

“Hiccup—”

“Really,” he said, “It’s probably better that I don’t know the truth. You can tell me when we’re ninety.”

She nodded, “That might be difficult,” she admitted. “But if you really don’t want to know, I… won’t tell you. It’ll be simpler, for now, that way.”

“Good,” Hiccup took a sip of his coffee.

“Are you… really still that upset about it?” she asked.

“About you dumping me?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “I mean, it’s been almost twelve years,would have thought you would have been over it by now.”

Hiccup took a moment to take another sip, “Astrid,” he said softly, his voice kind, “I… I loved you. I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. I wanted to marry you, _maybe_ have a family with you, and… till death do us part.”

She took in a deep breath, letting it go slowly. “Damn,” she muttered, “Way to hit me in the gut.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, sighing with a shrug. “I’m not angry with you anymore, not really. I understand that people change, and that if we didn’t break up then, we probably would have later. We were young, and good things don’t always last forever.”

“What we had was good, wasn’t it?” she said.

He smiled at her. “Yeah, it was really good.”

“I hope we can, look back on it… in a good light, and not dwell on how it ended,” she said.

“I can toast to that,” Hiccup said, lifting up his cup of coffee.

She smiled, clinking her cup with his. They drank, and she sighed contentedly as she placed her teacup on the table. “I’m in town till tomorrow morning, would you like to go out to dinner tonight? You can chose the place, I’ve never been to Everille, so I’m not sure of the options.”

“I would like that, for old time’s sake,” Hiccup said. “There’s a great restaurant on the West Side, I think you’ll like it.”

“Great,” she said. “It’s a date—I mean, not a _date,_ just, an outing.”

They exchanged numbers, after which he gave her a smile, glanced at his watch, and said, “I’ve got to go, I’m leading a meeting in a few minutes.”

She took a hasty sip of tea and stood, “Thanks so much, Hiccup, for understanding.”

Hiccup smiled, and replied, “See you tonight, Astrid. Can you find your way out?”

“Yeah, I should be fine. Thanks, and see you tonight,” she smiled and watched him go, before sighing, and left to find her way out of the building.

* * *

 

 

She looked at her reflection, assuring herself that she looked fine. She knew it was lie; she had nothing to wear on a date, even one that wasn’t _really_ a date. But at least she looked… _presentable._

She glanced at her watch. Hiccup was to arrive in five minutes. She might as well go outside and wait. She donned her coat and scarf, locked her door and left for the lobby, stepping out into the cold, fall air, shivering slightly.

“You can wait inside, if you’d like,” the bellman offered, but she shook her head, thanking him anyway.

Finally, she spotted him pull up. He was driving one of those eco-friendly cars—not surprising. He pulled up to the curb, and she opened the door to the passenger’s seat and slipped inside, buckling herself in. “So,” she said, “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he said, driving off. They drove through the city for a short while, before Hiccup pulled into a parking lot.

They were at a nice, but definitely low key, and very much Hiccup, establishment. They got out of the car and entered the building, where the host greeted Hiccup as if old friends and showed them to their table. “Bring women here often?” she joked.

“I don’t really have time for dating,” he said, picking up the menu and perusing it.

She picked up her own menu, and when the waiter came, they ordered quickly. “Shall I order a bottle of wine?” Hiccup asked.

“Oh no,” she shook her head, “You can for yourself if you’d like, but I’m not drinking right now.”

The waiter left, and Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “You? Astrid Hofferson, not drinking?”

“I’m… trying a new thing,” she said. “Plus I’m not a high school student desperate to prove my alcohol tolerance anymore.”

He raised both eyebrows, looking amused. “Well, I’m glad we did this,” he said, “I would have felt bad if we didn’t end on a good note.”

“Me too,” she replied. “I’ve thought about you a lot over the years, and… I just… always… felt bad.”

He blinked, and said, “You seem nervous.”

“Well, it’s not every day you bump into the guy you used to date,” she said. “So, are you seeing anyone right now?”

“No,” he said, “I was, but… uh…things didn’t work out. We ended things a few months ago.”

“Oh,” she said, “I’m sorry.”

“No, it was good,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

Astrid nodded, and said, “I’m glad you’re doing so well. Besides having difficulty finding ‘the one’.”

“Yeah, I am doing well. Our business is doing well, life is pretty good. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she said, “I’m finishing up an internship at Balt Inc., and in three months I’ll hopefully be hired on full time.”

“Internship?” he looked puzzled.

“Well, I just got my degree in business,” she said.

“ _Just_?” his puzzled look deepened. “You didn’t go to school right out of high school?”

“No,” she said, “I’m afraid that wasn’t in my cards. But, I did manage to get my bachelors recently, and, now I have a really good internship, and life is pretty good.”

He looked perturbed, so she said, quickly, “Your company is really impressive. You guys really know your stuff.”

“You’re not interested in my company,” he said, giving her an amused glance. “Balt has no interest in going green.”

“Ah,” she said, with a wry smile, “Well, you caught me. I’m afraid the proof is that they sent _me_.”

“I’m sure you’re very useful to them,” he said.

“In three months, I hope they agree,” she replied.

“I’m sure they will,” he said firmly.

She smiled at him, and they chatted about trivial things until their food arrived.

* * *

 

“Thanks so much for dinner,” she said as they pulled up to her hotel.

“I enjoyed it,” was his response.

She fidgeted with her hands for a moment, taking a deep breath, wondering if now would be the time she should—

“Astrid,” he said softly.

She turned to look at him. “Yes?”

“It was really good to see you,” he said, looking at her with an intensity that she wasn’t used to from men.

She nodded, “It was really, really, good to see you, too,” she said. “It means a lot to me that we were able to do this.”

They smiled at each other, and in that moment, she saw a glimpse of the tall, gangly seventeen year old that she had cared so much for nearly twelve years ago.

She suddenly found herself leaned towards him slightly, and felt something flip in her stomach as he leaned forward to meet her above the emergency brake. The kiss was sweet and chaste, and as short as their evening had been.

When they broke apart, she said quietly, not giving herself a chance to question whether it was a good idea, “Do you want to come upstairs?”

“Yeah,” he whispered after a moment’s pause. “I’d like that.”

She nodded, “Room 208B,” she said. “I’ll go up now, and you can park the car.”

She got out of the car and hurried inside, heading upstairs and opening the door. Thankfully she had a habit of keeping a neat hotel room, but she realized that she hadn’t shaved her legs in at least a few weeks. Swearing, she calculated how fast she could shave her legs, when she heard a knock at her door. She walked over and opened it, smiling at Hiccup standing before her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he closed the distance between them faster, pulling her into a kiss before she could get in a word. She gasped slightly, taken aback, and returned the kiss. This kiss was nothing like the kiss in the car. It was ravenous, deep, and _desperate._ He kicked the door shut, and she pushed him against it, quickly sliding the chain lock into its place.

She let out a small gasp as Hiccup moved his lips to her neck, finding that sweet spot that only he knew about. She felt something stir deep within her core, and she snaked a hand into his hair, the other gripping his shoulder. He was more muscular than he had been in high school, but she supposed she would have more time tonight to discover just how much.

She grabbed his head and pulled his lips back to hers.

She grabbed his coat, pulling it off him so hard and quickly he made an awkward noise and moved away from her slightly. He was back just as quickly. They tried to remove each other’s shirt at the same time, and stepped away to remove them independently. She wiggled out of her skirt, kicking it away from her.

For a moment, they stood there, gazing at each other. Astrid watched Hiccup’s eyes as they roamed her body, her skin tingling with anticipation. He reached out with a slow carefulness, and grasped her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her, his hands trailing up and down her back.

She gasped when he suddenly grabbed her thighs, lifting her up and closer to him, bringing her to the bed. He dropped her down, climbing carefully up over her, his lips trailing down her bare stomach, until he reached—

Her eyes closed tightly as she felt something like a wave crash down over her, pulsing through every cell in her body. She lay there, gasping for a moment.

“Did… did you just…” Hiccup stilled, sounding shocked.

After a moment she opened her eyes and stared at him. “It’s okay,” she said breathlessly, “I can keep going.”

“Thank god,” he muttered, pressing himself against her again and kissing her mouth, gentler this time.

* * *

 

She turned off the light, pulling the blankets closer over her. Somehow she felt subconscious now, though Hiccup had seen her naked plenty of times. But that was a long time ago. Things have… changed since then.

She wondered if she should close the curtain, to block out the last bit of light, but decided that she liked the comforting moonlight.

“That was amazing,” Hiccup said, his fingers trailing her arm. “I forgot how good it is with you.”

She looked down at him, “Me too,” she said.

“It was perfect really,” he sat up, pushing back so he was level with her. “I can’t think of a more perfect way for things to… end between us.”

“Hiccup…” she began.

“No, I mean, I think we both knew nothing could… _start up_ again. That would just be… well, probably disastrous.”

“Hiccup,” she said, closing her eyes, willing herself to continue.

“It’s the perfect end. The closure we needed—now we can go on with our lives, and go separate ways, and never wonder if we made a mistake breaking up--”

“We have a daughter,” she said in a rush, her heart racing a mile a minute.

After a moment of silence, she turned to look at him.

He was frozen, his face stuck on an expression of something reminiscent of shock.

“And… I’m…” she took in a deep breath, “Pregnant.”

* * *

 

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

Oho! What will happen now? How will Dadcup react to finding out he has a child? Who is the father of Astrid’s baby? Will Hiccup feel the same about “going separate ways” now?? You’ll just have to read on and find out ;D

So, disclaimer, this is _not_ a strictly ‘hiccstrid’ story. There’s definitely hiccstrid in it, for sure, but there’s also another ship that’s equally present, and, to be honest, neither ship is very central to the plot. If you’re of the mind that “Astrid and Hiccup can **only be with each other!!!!** ” than this **_isn’t_** the fic for you. Astrid could conceivably end up with either guy. But if you like ridiculous fics about a family slowly piecing itself together, a fair amount of angst with a touch of ooc, then this might be the fic for you!

Anyway, hopefully you were able to get through the awkwardness of my old writing.

Thanks for reading!

See you soon!

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a very angry chapter… Words are said.

She turned on the light, looking at Hiccup with an expectant look. “Did you hear me?” she asked.

“I…” Hiccup cleared his throat, blinking rapidly. “I have a… a…”

“A daughter,” Astrid said. “Kylie.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened slightly, and he made a noise that indicated he was having trouble breathing.

“Are you… alright?” Astrid asked.

“Am I—am I alright?” Hiccup looked at her as if she had grown an extra head. “You just told me I have a _daughter.”_

They stared at each other for a good few moments, until Hiccup’s body shook for a second and he threw the covers off himself, standing up, raking a hand through his hair. He paced back and forth for a moment, before yanking on his boxers and turning on her. “Why the _hell_ didn’t you ever tell me?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued.

“I mean, is _that_ why you broke up with me? Because you got _pregnant_? Why not tell me? Why dump me and refuse to see me? What could _have possibly_ have compelled you to do something so… so… _fucked_ up?”

“Hiccup,” she said, getting out of bed, “I do _not_ have to explain myself—and besides, that’s not the point.”

“Not the point? Then why are you telling me now?” he demanded. “Why wait _almost twelve years?_ If you were planning on telling me why not… say something when you found out?!”

“I _wanted to,”_ she said bitingly.

Hiccup frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared at her. “What do you mean, you _wanted to?”_

“I…” she crossed her arms. “When we graduated high school, what was going on with your family?”

He looked confused for a moment, before a look of realization dawned on him. “My dad had just announced his plan to run for the presidency… Are you saying _he_ had something to do with it? That makes _no_ sense, my dad would _never_ —”

“Your father,” Astrid said, putting a hand up to stop him, “Had no idea I was pregnant. Still doesn’t, to my knowledge.”

“So, what, you chose on _your own,_ to save him from some ‘bad’ publicity?”

“Your father’s publicist—”

“Jed Ordony?” Hiccup asked, his body instinctively tensing. “What did he do?”

“He found out that I was pregnant—I’m not sure how. I guess he was keeping tabs on me, in case something happened that he needed to deal with. Anyway, he approached me, and… gave me some options.”

“And one of them was to cut me out of your life?” Hiccup asked.

“That was _one_ of them,” Astrid said slowly. “There were a few. One was to not carry the child to term. Another was adoption… Anyway, he didn’t want us seeing each other. He didn’t want people to find out that a presidential candidate had a son who had an illegitimate child—or, had a shotgun wedding at eighteen. And honestly, I didn’t want that either.”

Hiccup looked puzzled.

“We were _eighteen_ ,” Astrid said, exasperated. “We had only been dating for _three years._ Three years where we were not even _adults capable_ of… understanding relationships, or being capable of making a decision as important as ‘until death do us part’.”

“You’re saying you didn’t want to be with me?” Hiccup asked, remarkably calm.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Astrid said. “I wanted to be with you, I just didn’t want to… settle down and be with you for the rest of my life at _eighteen._ I had my whole life ahead of me. And I’m not saying we wouldn’t have ended up together, I just wasn’t ready to make that that decision upon graduating _high school_. And _before_ you say anything, I _know_ you were also not ready for it. We were _kids_. And I know you said you wanted to do the whole marriage and family thing with me, but hindsight is twenty, twenty you know? I know you Hiccup, or at least I did, and I know that you wouldn’t have been happy at becoming a parent just barely after becoming an adult yourself.”

They stared at each other silence for a moment, before Astrid realized she was still mostly unclothed, and walked over, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over herself.

“I’m guessing you chose the adoption route,” Hiccup said. “And it didn’t pan out.”

“I chose adoption because… I didn’t want to be a parent at eighteen,” Astrid said. “I was a kid, I got into a great school, and I had my whole life planned out. A teen pregnancy was _not_ part of that plan. The agreement was, I break up with you, I avoid seeing you, and when the baby was born, I could start things up again between us as long as I didn’t mention Kylie.”

“ _Why?”_ Hiccup asked quietly.

“Mr. Ordony knew that if _you_ knew you had a child, you would insist on being a part of the baby’s life. He also knew your father would feel the same way.”

“And you just went along with it?” Hiccup asked.

“Like I said, I _wanted_ to give her up for adoption,” Astrid said. “And I knew he was right. It wasn’t ideal. I _should_ have told you. I shouldn’t have taken the deal, but—”

“Whoa, whoa, the _deal?”_ Hiccup narrowed his eyes. “ _Please_ tell me there wasn’t a payoff.”

“Not in… the strictest sense,” Astrid said. “You know about my family—you know that they were in …s _erious…_ debt… Mr. Ordony agreed to get them out of it.”

Hiccup’s hand found itself back in his hair. He took a deep breath. “So, you didn’t go through with it.”

“When I had Kylie, I…” Astrid took in a deep breath. “I just couldn’t go through with it. I decided to keep her. I wanted to tell you, but Mr. Ordony… he had worked that into our agreement. I _couldn’t_ tell you without having to pay him back, and worse, reveal that I had accepted money in exchange for giving up my daughter for adoption. Not to mention the scandal an exposed cover-up would have.”

Hiccup stared at the wall. “I still don’t understand why you did it.”

“My parent’s debt, it wasn’t some legal, federal thing where when they died it would just…. It would have gone to me. And my parents had no intention or any way of dealing with it themselves. _This_ was my way of being free of it and them forever.”

“My father would have—”

“Even your father has his limits, especially as a Mayor,” Astrid interrupted. “Look, I’m _sorry_ that I didn’t tell you before. Honestly, I’m not sure it was a good idea to tell you _now_. Ordony is still your father’s publicist, and if he finds out you know…”

There was a tense silence, before she continued. “I hated the thought of giving her up, but at the time I thought it was her best option. I thought it was what was best for her… and it was a difficult decision, but it was one that countless women have made, for better or worse. But then I… I held her and I just couldn’t—”

“You said… you said you are pregnant?” Hiccup said, looking at her suddenly. “Are—are you?”

“Oh,” Astrid frowned, having completely forgotten she had brought it up. In the course of the conversation it has somehow slipped her mind that she had. “Yes.”

“Who is the father?” Hiccup asked.

“Does that matter?”

“I just want to know,” he replied, “In case I have to deal with a disgruntled boyfriend.”

“He’s a friend of mine,” Astrid said, glaring at him. “We’re not involved with each other, but we decided to have a kid. Kylie has always wanted a sibling, and I felt if she was going to have one it should be when she was still technically a kid. I graduated school, my career looks good… it’s never an ideal time to have a kid, but I thought…”

“So you and he never…” Hiccup’s hand squiggled in the air suggestively.

“Oh yeah,” she said, crossing her arms, and giving him an annoyed look, “A recent college graduate who is a single mom and a guy who just got off parole can afford artificial insemination.”

“Off… you’re having a kid with an ex-convict?” Hiccup asked, raising his eyebrows.

“How is that—you are _not_ allowed to pass judgement on him, okay?” she said, jabbing a finger threateningly in his direction. “He’s a great guy, and an even better friend.”

“Hey,” Hiccup put up his hands, “I’d say I trust your judgement, but I’m not so sure of that anymore.”

“Oh that is… you know throughout the whole conversation you haven’t asked _one_ question about Kylie. I mean, I just told you you have a _daughter_ and all you can talk about is how much I wronged _you_. Aren’t you at _all_ curious about her?”

“If she even _is_ my daughter,” Hiccup said quietly.

Astrid let out a loud breath of air as disgust settled deep within her chest and gut. “That is so… how _dare_ you—”

“Well, what do you expect, Astrid?” he demanded. “I mean, am I supposed to just take your word on it? You’ve just revealed you don’t exactly have an aptitude for being honest.”

“Get out,” she said, pointing at the door.

“Fine,” he said, quickly pulling on his jeans and shirt and grabbing his coat and shoes.

“You are so… how _dare_ you—”

“I’m leaving,” he said, pulling the door open with an angry strength not typical of a man of his size. He stepped out and Astrid followed him into the hall.

“Go get in your _fancy, ‘environmentally-safe’_ car, and drive back to your _hippy, stuck up, snobby_ company, and get back to your _perfect_ life.”

Her words echoed in the silent hall as he walked with an angry gait away from her, and the door next to hers opened, a man sleepily peering out.

“What are you looking at?” she demanded quietly, before walking back into her hotel room. She closed the door, locking it, and leaned against it, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. Regret at her outburst settled deep in her gut, instantly regretting her outbursts.

She only hoped none of this wouldn’t come back to bite her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said.  A big heaping serving of a hot mess ;)


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

She grabbed her bags and coat from the bin once she cleared the scanner and slipped on her shoes. She looked for signs that indicated where her gate was as she walked down the long, wide, busy corridor, and looked at her phone.

There was a text waiting for her from Hiccup.

_Are you at the airport? Call me. Please._

She sighed and stuffed her phone in her coat pocket. She knew talking to him was inevitable, but she was not in the mood to do so now. Not while she was in an airport. Not just before she was about to get on a plane. Not a second afterwards, it started ringing, and despite her better judgement she dug it out and looked to see that the call was coming from Hiccup. She’d return his call after she got home, once she had some time to gather her thoughts. Once she had time to talk to him properly, and not in hushed whispers before a flight attendant reminded her to put her phone in airplane mode.She stuffed her phone back in her pocket, and headed to her gate in time to get in line to board.

* * *

 

The front door was unlocked, which could only mean one thing.

“Hey Mom,” a voice called from the living room.

“What are you doing home from school?” Astrid asked, dropping her bags on the floor next to the shoes and coat rack. After she had taken off her own, she walked into the living room, where the TV was on. Her daughter was laying on the couch, a comforter with blue and green flowers on it wrapped around her. An empty silver bowl lay nestled in front of her, a half drunk glass of coke and toast on the coffee table.

“Hey,” Astrid said, walking over and crouching beside the arm of the couch, brushing the hairs away from Kylie’s face. “What happened, are you sick?”

“She threw up at school yesterday. I don’t think she has the flu but she was sent home anyway,” Eret said, walking out of the kitchen. “She hasn’t gotten sick since. I would have called you, but I didn’t want you to try to come home sooner. I know how important this trip was for your job.”

Astrid was about to say that her _daughter_ being sick was far more important than her performance reviews at work, but it did seem that Kylie was on the mend. Tired, but the kind of tired one gets from excessive TV watching. She didn’t look _sick_.

“Did you have a fever?” she asked Kylie.

Kylie shook her head, her eyes on the TV. Finally, she tore herself away from the screen to peer up at Astrid. “How was your trip?”

“It was… _interesting,”_ Astrid said, straightening.

“How?” Kylie asked, returning her attention to the TV.

“I met someone I hadn’t seen in a long time,” Astrid said. “We had an argument.”

Kylie looked at her in concern, and Astrid said quickly, “It doesn’t matter. We’re adults, I’m sure we’ll work it out.” Kylie reluctantly returned her attention to the TV.

“Thanks for looking after her,” Astrid said to Eret, walking back to the hall to gather her bags. “I know that’s not exactly what you signed up for when I asked you to babysit.”

“You know I don’t mind,” she heard him say.

She picked up the bag with her clothes and laptop, and hesitated, looking at her coat. She hadn’t listened to Hiccup’s message yet. She took in a breath, narrowing her eyes slightly, and decided he could wait a few more hours. She stuck the phone in her pants pocket, and walked back into the living room.

She sat at the edge of the couch, and Kylie sat up to allow Astrid to sit properly, laying her head down in Astrid’s lap, her eyes not breaking contact with the TV.

“Hey, I’m going to head out,” Eret said, “I can still make my shift if I leave now.”

Astrid looked over her shoulder, “Thanks, Eret,” she said, “I mean it, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He smiled down at them for a moment, before saying his goodbyes and leaving. She heard the rumble of his old pick-up truck as he drove off.

Astrid bent over to kiss Kylie’s forehead. “I’m sorry you were sick and I wasn’t here,” Astrid said.

“It’s okay.”

“Have you felt nauseas since yesterday?”

Kylie shook her head. “The nurse said I didn’t have the flu or anything. But because I threw up I had to come home anyway.” She glanced up at Astrid, looking apologetic and a little embarrassed, “I drank too much water before gym class.”

Astrid raised her eyebrows, a smile tugging at her lips. “Did you tell the nurse that?”

Kylie’s own mouth tugged into something resembling a smirk. A crooked, half-smile. “No.”

“What do you say, if you feel better tonight, and you know, not puking your guts out, we go for pizza or something? Think you’re up for that? I could _really_ go for some _Rosianne’s_ right now.”

Kylie turned slightly to look up at her. “Yeah,” she said, smiling. “I’d like pizza.”

“ _Perfect,_ me too,” Astrid said, settling into the back of the couch. “Tomorrow’s _Saturday,”_ she said. “We could go see a movie. Maybe go to the dog park afterwards? _Get some ice cream._ ”

Kylie nodded her head.

“We’ll have a girl’s day,” Astrid said.

“No Eret?” Kylie asked.

“Nah, just us,” Astrid said. “I need some Kylie time to myself.”

“Me too,” Kylie replied, her eyes on the TV. “I missed you.”

Astrid brushed her daughters russet hair away from her ear. “I missed you too.”

* * *

After a few hours, Astrid left Kylie to start her report on what she had learned on her trip. It was just a formality—no one would bother paying attention to any of it. But procedures were procedures, and she wanted to make a good impression if she was going to have any chance of becoming a permanent employee in time to get a maternity leave. In that, getting pregnant right now was _not_ the most perfectly timed thing she had done. In her personal life, it was just the right timing. Professional life? She should have waited a few years. Gotten a good job under her belt. Been able to take advantage of benefits. She sighed, frowned, and reached back and drew out her phone. She stared at it for a moment, before placing it down and starting her report.

At 5:30 in the evening, she decided she should finally listen to his message. She got up and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She realized there _two_ other voicemails from Hiccup. Deciding to listen to the first one _first_ , she pressed the phone to her ear, listening.

_“Hey, it’s me… Hiccup. I just wanted to… apologize for how I acted last night. I was out of line and I shouldn’t have accused you of—Anyway, I’m still not happy with how or when I found out about… Kylie, but I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I want to talk things out—see if we can come to some sort of agreement, and… I want to see her. Kylie. I think you owe me that. Anyway, call me back when you get this message.”_

She took in a breath. The onslaught of mixed emotions overwhelmed her. He wanted to meet Kylie? She supposed she should have seen that coming. But this was going to complicate things. She took a few paces, and then pressed the speed dial for Eret.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Eret asked as soon as he picked up.

“Are you still at work?” Astrid asked, her voice tight and on edge.

“I just got off,” he replied, his tone dropping from pleasantly surprised to worried in an instant, “What is it? How’s Kylie?”

“She’s fine,” Astrid said, “Look, you know how I said I met someone I used to know, and we got into a fight?”

“You said it was an argument.”

“It was a little more than an argument…” she said.

“Are you okay?” his voice was tense, worried, on alert.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Anyway, itt was Hiccup,” Astrid said.

“Is that name supposed to mean anything to me?”

“Kylie’s _father,”_ Astrid whispered, although she knew her daughter couldn’t hear her from the living room.

Astrid tapped her foot while she listened to the stunned silence that greeted her. “Her _father?”_

“Turns out he’s the co-founder the company I went to see,” Astrid said. “I had _no_ idea. Anyway, I… ended up telling him about Kylie, and he didn’t take it well, but now he wants to meet her and—”

“You _told_ him?” she could practically _hear_ his frown. “You told me he left you when the two of you found out you were having Kylie.”

“I… that _is_ what I told you,” Astrid said slowly, the deep, biting feeling of guilt that always accompanied the lie digging deep in her gut, “It’s not _exactly_ the truth.”

“And what’s the truth?”

“The truth is he never even knew about her,” Astrid said, “I broke up with him when I found out.”

“So that’s why you fought.”

“Yeah,” Astrid said. “The thing is, I wasn’t _supposed_ to tell him about her, it just kind of… came out. And… now he wants to _meet_ her and—”

“And you’re going to have tell her that the guy who she thinks walked out on you two actually had no idea she existed?” Eret finished. “Yeah, I don’t envy that conversation.”

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked, opening the door a crack to peer into the living room. Kylie was watching the TV dutifully, completely oblivious to their conversation. She closed the door.

“Well, you can’t keep him from seeing her,” Eret said. “The only thing you can do now is tell her the truth.”

The doorbell rang, and she heard Kylie call out, “I’ll get it!” Astrid heard the sound of bare footfalls as Kylie half walked, half ran to the front door.

“I know, I know,” Astrid said, “She can’t hear it from anyone but me.” She sighed. “I honestly didn’t think I was going to have to do this, not so soon, anyway.”

“Why did you lie in the first place?” Eret asked.

“It’s complicated,” she said, “I can explain later—”

“Mom?” she heard Kylie call from the hall, “Some guy is here.”

Astrid opened the door, walking out into the hall. “If you could come over after work and we could talk I’d—” she froze as she saw who was towering above her daughter at the door. “Hiccup,” she said quietly, the hand holding her phone lowering slightly as she stared in shock.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens…. ;)
> 
> What will Astrid do now? How will Kylie react? How will HICCUP react to not only having a daughter but finding how said daughter thought he knew about her and walked out? How will Astrid explain herself?
> 
> You’ll just have to read on to find out :)


	4. Chapter 4

“Um, Eret, I’m going to have to call you back,” Astrid said, hanging up before Eret had a chance to respond. She walked quickly to the door, pulling Kylie behind her. “ _What_ are you doing here?” she asked Hiccup, her voice tense.

Kylie took another step behind her in response to her mother’s tone, peeking around at Hiccup with a fearful expression.

Hiccup watched this with a paralyzed expression of his own, before he said, “I couldn’t book a flight on such short notice, so I drove down. You’re Kylie, right?”

Kylie nodded, still eyeing him warily.

Astrid took in a deep breath. This was a disaster—a worst case scenario. _Why_ hadn’t Hiccup announced he was going to come down? “You can’t just _show up,”_ she said. “Without any warning.”

“I left you two voicemail,” Hiccup said, frowning at her. “ _Hours_ ago.”

She looked down at her phone, at the un-played messages. She supposed that was what she deserved for ignoring his messages.

“Who is this guy?” Kylie’s voice was small, sounding like a child years younger than her age.

Hiccup winced at her fearful tone, and crouched down so he was lower. “My name is Hiccup. I’m…” he hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Astrid before looking back at Kylie. “I’m your dad.”

Kylie froze, her eyes widening slightly. She looked up at Astrid. “We should talk inside,” Astrid said, “Is that okay, Kylie?”

Kylie hesitated, glancing between Hiccup and Astrid, before nodding.

Hiccup straightened and whistled, and Astrid heard the patter of paws and a large black dog slip past Hiccup’s legs, jumping up on Astrid, licking her hand. “Toothless,” she laughed, “You brought him?”

“I couldn’t arrange for someone to look after him while I was gone… and besides, I thought he should be here.”

The dog sniffed Kylie and then hurried down the hall, exploring.

“I see he’s got a nifty new leg,” Astrid said as Hiccup stepped through the door and she closed it behind him.

There was a hesitating, awkward moment where they all paused at the door. The tenseness of the situation had eased slightly with the addition of Toothless, but it built up quickly with his disappearance. After a moment, Astrid said, “Let’s go sit at the table.” She put her hand on Kylie’s shoulder, leading her down the hall. Astrid sat in a seat along the length, and Hiccup and Kylie sat down on the ends. “So…” Astrid said, tapping her fingers on the table.

“How old are you?” Hiccup asked, “I mean… when’s your birthday?”

Kylie glanced at Astrid, who nodded. “January Sixth,” she said.

“And you’re turning eleven?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Wow,” he breathed. “Um… what is your favorite… color?”

Kylie frowned. “Blue,” she said after a moment’s pause. “Why are you here?”

Hiccup looked surprised, and glanced at Astrid. “I didn’t tell her I ran into you,” she told him.

“Is this the guy you argued with?” Kylie asked her.

Hiccup looked at Astrid in alarm. “You told her we argued?”

“Is that not what happened?” she countered.

“Kylie,” he turned his attention back to her, “Your mother and I—we just… had a disagreement on something. There’s nothing to—”

“Why did you come back?” Kylie asked, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Come… back?” Hiccup frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you want to come back before?” Kylie’s voice had a slight sharpness to it.

Astrid breathed out slowly, bracing herself for where the conversation was going to end up.

“Wh… Astrid,” Hiccup looked at her, his voice dangerously calm, “Did you… tell her that I… _knew_ and _… abandoned_ the two of you?”

“Perhaps we could talk in private?” Astrid suggested, “And I can explain to you _why_ I had to—”

“Kylie,” Hiccup looked back at their daughter. “I want you to know I did _not_ abandon you _or_ your mom. I didn’t even know you _existed_ until last night.”

Kylie looked at Astrid quickly, confusion on her face. The confusion shifted into a desperate non-verbal plea for an answer.

“Kylie,” Astrid began, “Hiccup—your _dad,”_ the word sounded strange in relation to her daughter, “didn’t know about you. I… _lied,_ about that. And I shouldn’t have. And when you’re a little older, I’ll explain _why_ I did it.”

“Why can’t you explain now?” she asked, her voice rising slightly.

Astrid took in a deep breath, her chest pained.“Because when I found out I was going to have you, a man convinced me to not tell Hiccup or anyone else that he was the father.”

“Who… was that person?” Kylie asked. “Why would he do that?”

“He was…” Astrid trailed off, “Not a very nice man.”

“He was a bad man?” Kylie asked.

“Yeah,” Hiccup said, “He is a very, very, bad man. But it’s okay, because he’s not going to be able do anymore bad things for a long time.”

Kylie looked down at her hands in her lap.

“Kylie,” Astrid reached out her hand, “I’m sorry you have to find out like this. It was never my intention.”

“Are you angry with Mom?” she looked up at Hiccup.

“Uh,” Hiccup paused, “No. I’m not. I’m not going to be arguing with your mom, you don’t have to worry about that. But I _do_ want to get to know you. If you will let me.”

Kylie looked down at her hands for a moment, before glancing at Astrid out of the corner of her eyes. She paused, the silence stretching out seemingly indefinitely, and the tenseness in the room growing with it. Finally, she looked up at Hiccup, nodding slightly. Astrid closed her eyes, unsure if what she was feeling was regret, fear, or relief.

Hiccup breathed, smiling. “Great,” he said.

“We were going to go out for pizza,” Astrid said, after a moment’s pause, “If you’d like to join us? Is that alright, Kylie?”

“Okay,” she nodded.

“Perfect,” Hiccup said. “Can I leave Toothless in your house? We can take my car.”

“Sure,” Astrid stood, “Kylie, why don’t you get dressed and brush your hair?”

“’Kay,” Kylie slid from her seat and hurried out of the room into the hall.

After a moment of silence, Astrid said, “She looks like you.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup said, “She does. She looks like my mom at her age.”

“Hiccup,” Astrid said after a moment, “I’m… really, _really_ sorry. About all of this. I want you to know that this wasn’t… _how_ I _wanted_ things to be. Ideally, I would have told you eleven and a half years ago and—”

Her phone beeped, and she looked at it. A text from Eret.

_Is everything okay? Need me to come over now?_

“Give me a moment,” she said, turning away from Hiccup slightly.

_Everything’s fine,_ she texted back. _I’m dealing with it._

She stuck her phone in her back pocket. “It’s good that you brought Toothless,” she said. “Kylie loves dogs. All animals really. We can’t have pets here—landlord’s rules.”

“You rent?” Hiccup asked her.

“A single mom who just graduated college,” Astrid said, “Isn’t exactly a very lucrative situation. Still, we get by. My landlord is a friend. She gives us a good deal.”

Hiccup looked taken aback for a moment, and looked as if he was about to say something, when Kylie returned. “I’m ready,” she said, when Toothless, who had finished exploring the house, walked up to her, sniffing her with curiosity. “Is this your dog?” she asked Hiccup, putting out her hand for him to lick.

“Yeah,” Hiccup said, “His name is Toothless.”

“Toothless?” Kylie laughed, “But he’s got teeth.”

“It’s a long story,” Hiccup said.

Kylie knelt down, and Toothless obligingly laid down so she could better scratch his back. “What happened to his foot?” she asked.

“He lost it,” Hiccup said, “So did I.” He lifted up his pants leg, and she looked over, her eyes widening slightly at the prosthetic.

“How’d you lose your leg?” she asked, still staring at him, before looking up at his face.

“I’ll tell you the story sometime,” he answered, almost looking happy at having a prospective subject to talk about.

“We’d should probably get going,” Astrid said, “It’s almost six.”

“Okay,” Kylie got up reluctantly. “Bye, Toothless.”

Hiccup and Astrid followed Kylie into the hall, where Astrid and she put on their coats and shoes. Astrid grabbed her purse, and they walked out.

The car beeped as it unlocked as they approached, and Kylie said, somewhat awed, “ _That’s_ your car?”

“Yup,” Hiccup said, opening the back door for her. She slid in, buckling herself in as Astrid got into the passenger side. “So, where are we going?” he asked.

“Just around the corner,” Astrid replied.

They drove for a few minutes, until they reached _Rosianne’s_.

“Cute place,” Hiccup said, as they got out of the car.

“I’ll get a table,” Kylie hopped out of the back seat, hurrying inside. Hiccup and Astrid walked up to the door, and Astrid stopped him before he could reach for the handle.

“The people who own and work at this establishment? They’re good friends of mine,” she said.

“Great,” he said, sounding like he wasn’t quite sure what she was getting at.

“Kylie… wasn’t the only one I told about… you abandoning us,” she said. “It was kind of the story I told everyone.”

He stared at her.

“It was Ordony,” she said, putting up her hands defensively, hoping this gnawing feeling of guilt would eventually disappear. “That was the story that would initiate the least questions. People tend not to pry when you give them a sob story like that.”

Hiccup sighed irritably. “So everyone in your life thinks I’m some prick who ran off when I was faced with responsibility,” he said. “ _Great_.”

“Just... a heads up,” Astrid said, opening the door and walking through. Hiccup followed her.

“Astrid!” Rose Ergan, a plump, middle aged woman, waved them in. “I’ve already put in the order for you.”

“Thanks Rose,” Astrid said, grinning at her, and walking to the table where Kylie was waiting. The two adults sat down, and Rose walked over. “What drinks can I get you three?” She looked at Hiccup. “I didn’t realize you brought a date—I’ll put in an order for another pie.”

“He’s not a date,” Astrid said hurriedly.

“Oh? Just a friend?” Rose looked between Astrid and Kylie, but both were silent.

“I’m Kylie’s father,” Hiccup said after a painfully prolonged silence.

“Oh,” Rose’s eyebrows shot up, and then she stared down at Hiccup with a hard, cynical look. “About _time_ you took an interest.”

Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but Rose beat him to it. “Kylie, a coke as usual?”

She nodded, and Astrid said, “I’ll just have a water.”

“Got anything stronger?” Hiccup asked Rose in a poor attempt at a sardonic joke, but it only gained him a hard glare. “I’ll have a water too,” he said after another moment of awkward silence.

“I’ll bring the breadsticks out soon,” she said. She paused next to Astrid on her way back to the counter, “Marcus is on duty tonight—give the word and he can come in a jiffy.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Astrid said as the woman left. “Sorry,” she muttered to Hiccup. “She’s kind of… protective.”

Hiccup gave her a tight smile, before turning to Kylie. “So, you like pizza?”

“I _love_ it,” she said. “I like to make it too.”

“You like to cook?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah,” she said.

“Kylie wants to be a chef,” Astrid said.

“Or a vet,” Kylie said, shrugging. “I can’t chose.”

“She’s a very good cook and very good with animals, so I’m confident whichever one she may chose she will be _very good_ at,” Astrid said. “Or she may be both, who knows.”

Rose had returned, placing their cups down. She gave Hiccup one last, narrowed glare before leaving.

“Wow,” Hiccup said, turning back to Kylie, “That’s amazing. And good too, because, as far as I remember, your mom is _not_ a good cook.”

Astrid gave out an amused laugh, reaching out and smacking him lightly on the arm in mock indignation, suddenly feeling like she was seventeen again and nothing had changed.

“It’s true,” he said, smiling at her. “You’ve gave me food poisoning once. Is she a better cook now?” he asked Kylie.

“ _Nope_ ,” Kylie giggled, drawing out the word comically.

“What about school?” he asked. “What grade are you in?”

“Fifth,” Kylie said.

“What sort of things do you like to do?”

“I like soccer,” she said, “And swimming. And art club. And game club.”

“Game club?”

“For video games and stuff,” she said. “I like playing video games.”

“Me too,” Hiccup said, his face brightening. “We’ll have to play together sometime. And you can teach me a few recipes too.”

She grinned at him, and Astrid felt a strange twinge in her gut. They were bonding, and while she was happy for Kylie, she could not help but feel slightly perturbed by this fact. Eret might have assumed the role of a father in much of Kylie’s memory, but it was always clearly understood he was _not_ Kylie’s father. Now she _had_ a father… and Astrid wasn’t sure she was ready to share her daughter in such an intimate way with someone else.

“Where did you grow up?” Kylie asked.

“Here,” Hiccup said. “In Berk.”

“Really?” Kylie asked.

“Yeah. With my dad,” Hiccup replied.

“Your dad?” Kylie paused, “My grandfather?”

Hiccup nodded, “I’ll take you to meet him sometime, if you’d like.”

“Really?”

“Hiccup,” Astrid said warningly.

“What’s his name?” Kylie asked.

“Stoick Haddock,” Hiccup replied, ignoring Astrid’s warning looks.

Kylie’s eyes widened slightly, and she glanced at Astrid for a moment, before asking Hiccup carefully, “Mayor Haddock?”

Hiccup nodded.

Kylie’s eyes widened further. “My grandpa is the _mayor?”_ she sat in a stunned silence for a moment, before asking Astrid, “Is that why that man didn’t want you telling anyone?”

Astrid nodded.

“Will you get in trouble if people find out?”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Hiccup said firmly. “You and your mom are going to be fine. Only that guy is going to be in trouble.”

Kylie nodded slowly, but did not look like she quite believed him.

Two waitresses walked over with the pizza and breadsticks, setting up the stands and giving them the plates. “Ah, cheese, a classic,” Hiccup said.

“I told Rose to make just cheese,” Kylie said, helping herself to a slice.

“Good,” Astrid said, “That’ might easier on your stomach.”

“I’m glad we have two pies because I’m _starving,”_ Kylie said. At Hiccup’s quizzical look, she said, “I threw up at school yesterday.”

“Oh,” Hiccup said. “Are you feeling better?”

She nodded, chewing thoughtfully. “I’d like to meet your dad, Hiccup.”

Hiccup opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. “You can call me… ‘Dad’, if you’d like,” he offered after a moment.

She paused, and then carefully chewed and swallowed. “Hiccup is fine.”

Astrid watched the exchange carefully, gauging their reactions, trying to figure out what was going on under the surface of their minds. Kylie was always a cautious child, it didn’t surprise her that she didn’t immediately accept the idea of having a father. And it would be a lot to take for anyone. _Hiccup_ looked clearly disappointed, but thankfully, he didn’t press the issue.

“Let’s eat,” Astrid said, grabbing a few slices. She ignored the breadsticks. They were stuffed with a kind of garlic spread, and the smell was making Astrid feel nauseas, even from this distance. That was something she did _not_ like about being pregnant. Foods that she usually drooled over suddenly smelled and tasted so horrendous she often found herself gagging, and other foods she usually didn’t care for seemed the opposite. “And _I_ am going to eat twice as much as you two because _I_ am eating for _two.”_

Hiccup choked slightly on his slice, before clearing his throat and saying, “That’s right. So, you’re going to have a little sibling, huh?”

Kylie grinned in response, swallowing a large mouthful.

“That must be nice,” Hiccup said.

“It is,” Astrid said. “We’re all very excited.”

“’We’ being…”

“Me, Mom, and Eret,” Kylie answered.

“Eret is the father, I presume?” Hiccup asked, before taking another bite.

“He is,” Astrid said carefully

“How is that going to work?”

“How is that an appropriate question?” Astrid countered.

“I’m just asking, how you’re going to handle that,” Hiccup said, “I mean, you told me the two of you are just friends.”

“Just as we always have been,” Astrid said. “Eret has been in our lives pretty much since Kylie has been a toddler. He’s gone to every recital, is over our house all the time, and even coaches Kylie’s soccer team.” The words: He had _the father_ role _,_ lay unspoken in the air like a rubber band pulled tight.

“Well, I can’t wait to meet him,” Hiccup said after a moment, and while he said this pleasantly Astrid could easily detect the irritation in his voice.

Hiccup and Kylie chatted about dogs for the remainder of the short evening, which Hiccup, despite Astrid’s protests, insisted on paying for, and soon they were off on the short drive home.

“Oh no…” Astrid said quietly as they pulled up to the sidewalk. Eret’s pick-up truck was just ahead of them.

She heard barking, and the door opened and Toothless bounded out, greeting Hiccup as he got out of the car. Eret walked out of the house as she and Kylie got out.

“Hey, Eret, sorry we were so late—we went out to eat,” Astrid said, “Thanks for coming over.”

“No problem,” Eret said, eyeing Hiccup warily. “I stopped by the school and picked up Kylie’s schoolwork she missed today.”

“Oh, thanks,” Astrid said. “Kylie, why don’t you and Eret go put that away, and then get ready for bed. You can watch some TV for a bit before going to sleep.”

“Okay,” Kylie headed towards the door, and then paused, “Thanks for dinner, Hiccup.” She headed inside as Astrid and Hiccup approached the door and Eret.

Astrid stood, watching as Eret and Hiccup sized each other up. “Hiccup,” she said, “This is Eret. Eret, Hiccup.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hiccup put out a hand, and Eret shook it. “I assume you’re the father of,” he nodded in Astrid’s direction.

“Yeah,” Eret said. “And I assume _you’re_ Kylie’s father.”

“Whatever you’ve heard about me, it’s wrong,” Hiccup said quickly.

“He knows the truth, I told him shortly before you showed up,” Astrid said.

“Well,” Eret said, “I better check on Kylie.”

He went inside, closing the door behind him.

“He seems nice,” Hiccup said in an unreadable tone.

“He is,” Astrid said. “Look, you don’t have to worry about him. He’s just used to being the father figure, it’ll take some getting used to for him. But he’s a good guy. He won’t resent you for entering her life.”

Hiccup nodded. “I suppose it’s fair. I mean, soon we’ll both have a kid with you, so…”

“Hiccup,” she began, “I want to make sure we have some boundaries.”

“Boundaries?” he looked at her quizzically.

“I don’t want Kylie to get any false hopes about… _us_.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup nodded, “No, you’re right. Obviously nothing can start or happen between us. Sleeping together was a mistake, and not one I’m going to repeat.”

She nodded her agreement.

“Astrid,” he said, “I wanted to apologize for how I reacted the other night. I was… out of line. And you’re right, I was only thinking of myself, and I guess I just got defensive that you pointed that out. I _know_ you would never have cheated on me. I want you to know that.”

“I know,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“And I… I _get_ why you did things the way you did. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m even angry with _you_ anymore. It’s Ordony who’s going to… Well, I’ll be calling my lawyers Monday.”

“What?” she looked at him. “ _Hiccup.”_

“If _I_ don’t sue him, my father _will,”_ Hiccup told her. “I mean, I can’t just let him _get away_ with what he did. I missed nearly _eleven_ years of my daughter’s life, I lost _you,_ I… There’s _no_ way I can come back from that. Nothing can make up for it. But seeing him get what he deserves? _That_ will be a start. In the meantime, I’m going to spend as much time with Kylie as possible. I have a lot of time to make up for. She’s… such a great kid and I... I can’t believe missed half her childhood.”

Astrid sighed, staying silent.

“And I’m going to start paying child support,” he added.

“What?” she looked at him in surprise. “No— _Hiccup,_ I can’t accept—”

“You can, and you will,” he said, “It’s not up for debate. Even if you and I hadn’t stayed together, if I had known about Kylie from the beginning, I would have at least been partially financially responsible for her. Didn’t Ordony offer you money to live off of or anything?”

“He did,” she said, “I refused to take it. I didn’t want to… be connected to him anymore than I had to. You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” he looked at her seriously. “She may never call me dad, she may not even ever think of me as her father, she may think I’m just this strange guy who wants to butt into her life, but she’s _my_ daughter, and… I can’t make up for not being in her life before now, but I can at least take an active part in it from now on.”

She sighed again. “Thanks,” she said. “And for the record, she likes you. It’s just a lot for a kid her age to… accept. She needs time to warm up to the idea of having you in her life. It’ll just take time.”

“Well, I have all the time,” he said. “I should go, I’m going to crash at my dad’s place for the weekend.”

He turned and began walking with Toothless back to his car, and Astrid called out, “She and I are spending the day together tomorrow. If you want to join us…”

He stopped, turning to look at her. He smiled, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He opened his door, letting Toothless in and got in afterwards. As he drove off, she stood, shivering slightly in the late fall air, wondering how their lives were going to change from now on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! Poor Hiccup, everyone thinks he’s a prick ;) His daughter doesn’t even want to call him ‘dad’.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Next time: Hiccup breaks the news to Stoick. And shit hits the fan ;)


	5. Serendipity

He grinned as the door opened, revealing his father.

“Hiccup,” Stoick said, frowning. “I didn’t realize you were in town.”

“Last minute visit,” Hiccup said, “Can we come in?”

“Half of you already has,” Stoick said, looking over his shoulder where Toothless, who had bounded into his father’s house the moment the door opened, was shuffling into the next room beyond the foyer. “Come in,” his father opened the door wider, and Hiccup stepped in, taking in a deep breath. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’ll explain in a moment. Who’s here?” Hiccup asked, following his dad into the drawing room, where his father poured himself and Hiccup a glass of scotch.

“Just Mrs. Hans,” his father replied, handing him his glass. Mrs. Hans was the housekeeper of his father’s mansion.

Hiccup accepted it, and sat when his dad did. “Ordony isn’t here, is he?” he asked.

“No, he went home hours ago,” Stoick replied.

“Good,” Hiccup said quietly.

“Why did you visit?” his dad asked again.

“I came to see Astrid,” Hiccup said, staring at his glass.

There was a moment of silence, before his dad said, slowly, “And how is she?”

“Good,” Hiccup said. “I actually ran into her back in Everille, and we got to talking and…”

His father smiled. “Well,” he said. “Astrid has always been a fine, young woman. I’m glad you and she have rekindled the old fla—”

“Astrid and I are not getting back together,” Hiccup interrupted him. “She… she told me she has a daughter.” When his father had no response to this, Hiccup slowly, hesitantly, continued. “ _My_ daughter.”

A long silence prevailed after that statement.

“When did this happen?”

“Before we broke up,” Hiccup said. “Back in High School. Kylie is ten, almost eleven.”

Stoick took a sharp intake of breath. “And why is she just telling you this now? That is unlike her… to have kept this from you for all these years.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” Hiccup said, looking at his father with a decided expression. “It was Ordony.”

Stoick raised an eyebrow. “Elaborate.”

“Ordony found out she was pregnant. He… didn’t want to ruin your presidential run, so he… had her break up with me…. _Paid_ her to give up the child… and when she decided to keep her, he forced her to give up all contact with me and you and…” Hiccup took in a deep, ragged breath.

Stoick gazed at the scotch in his hand, before speaking, his voice edged. “If this is true—and I trust Astrid’s words—but if it’s true…” he trailed off. “I won’t let Ordony get away with this. He’s a good publicist. I see now that he’s _too_ good a publicist.”

Hiccup nodded. “It’s just… He had Astrid tell everyone I, or the father, no one knew it was me, that I knew about Kylie. That I abandoned them. I see why that was a smart thing for her to tell people so they didn’t ask questions but… I went to dinner with them and the looks people gave me…”

“What is she like?” Stoick asked him.

“Kylie? Great kid. I think. I assume, anyway. It’s not like I’ve had a chance to get to know her…. at _all,”_ these words were bitter. “She looks like Mom.”

“When can I meet her?”

Hiccup glanced at his father. “I think she should get used to the idea of having a dad before she meets her grandad,” he said.

“ _Hiccup.”_

“I’ll ask her and Astrid when,” Hiccup relented. “I’m going to spend the day with them tomorrow. Hopefully. I can’t take too much time off of work so… I’ll have to go back eventually. Monday, actually.”

After a moment, Stoick said, “How do you feel about all this?”

“When I found out about Kylie I… I kind of flew off the handle. I was furious with Astrid. I shouldn’t have yelled at her… but I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive her. I have a daughter… a _daughter…_ and I’ve missed over half her childhood. _Half her childhood_ , and I… I just wasn’t there. And the whole time she thought I _abandoned_ her… How are _you_ so calm during this?” Hiccup asked his father.

“I’m furious, Hiccup,” Stoick said. “But years as a politician has made me able to control my emotions. Ordony will pay for this. He _will_ see justice. Astrid… what has she been doing all this timer?”

“She just got her degree—working at some company. I think they struggle, financially. I want to help them out but… Astrid can be so stubborn. I don’t think she’ll let me. I don’t think she’s very happy about me being around now.”

“She’ll have to get used to it,” Stoick said brusquely. “You have rights as the father.”

Hiccup nodded. “I don’t think Kylie sees me that way. She called me _Hiccup_ , not dad, even after I suggested it.”

“Give it time,” Stoick said. “She’ll warm up to you. She just met you”

“Oh,” Hiccup took a swig of his drink, “And Astrid is pregnant. This time it’s not mine. Some guy named Eret.”

“Oh,” Stoick frowned. “Well, I don’t see how that’s—”

“Not sure I like the fellow,” Hiccup said, studying his near empty glass. The truth was, Eret seemed a rather decent man. But the idea that _he_ was the one who took the role of a father in Kylie’s life made Hiccup uneasy. Insecure. _Jealous._ And now he was the father of Astrid’s second child. By all accounts, this Eret fellow had more of a basis of being the man in their lives than _he_ did.

“Tomorrow I’ll talk to my lawyers,” Stoick said. “News will get out, so I’ll need a new publicist to help smooth it all over. The outlets will have a field day with this.”

“I want to keep Astrid and Kylie out of it as much as possible,” Hiccup said. “The last thing they need is reporters showing up at their door with prying questions.”

“Of course,” Stoick stood, sighing deeply. “What a night. I know I always badger you about giving me grandkids, but… I didn’t expect to already have one. Tomorrow, after I talk with my lawyers and have my secretary interview prospective publicists, I want to meet Kylie.”

“Dad, she just met _me,_ I don’t think it’d be—”

“She’s my _granddaughter,_ Hiccup,” his father said firmly. “You’re not the only one who missed half her childhood. I missed the Christmases, the birthdays, holidays, sick days….” He paused, a despondent look crossing his face. “I’ve wanted a grandchild for a long time—always knew I would love being a granddad. You’re not the only one who feels robbed.”

Hiccup nodded, standing as well, and whistling for Toothless, who bounded into the room. “I’m going to bed,” Hiccup said.

“Your bed should be made up,” Stoick told him. “If not then you can sleep in one of the guest bedrooms.”

“Thanks,” Hiccup turned to head upstairs, grabbing his suitcase, when his father said his name, stopping him. He turned to look at him.

“It’s not too late,” his father told him. “You—and I—may have missed eleven years of her childhood, but it’s not too late. We’ll both have to make the most of what’s left of it, and thereafter.”

Hiccup nodded, giving Stoick a strained smile, before heading upstairs with Toothless.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued…
> 
> What will happen now for our little, dysfunctional family?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Astrid almost did not expect Hiccup to show up the next morning. She stood at the door, watching him walk up the path, with a decided frown.

“You don’t look pleased to see me,” he said, giving her that awkward smile that spoke miles as to the emotions within, and yet hid much.

“I didn’t expect you this early,” she said.

He shrugged, a roll of his shoulders, a sure tell that he was insecure and unsure of himself. “You didn’t tell me what time to come.”

“Right,” she said. “Well, come in. We’re making breakfast.”

Hiccup followed her in, Toothless bounding in before him, and took off his coat and shoes. “Is Eret here?” he asked.

“No,” she answered.

He looked relieved, which only served to irritate her. She forced herself to relax. Who cared if he didn’t like Eret?

She did. _She cared._ Eret was her best friend. Eret was the father of one of her children. Eret was the surrogate father of Kylie. If Kylie’s biological father and practically adopted father didn’t get along… “Come on through,” she said, turning and walking down the hall to the kitchen. “Kylie, Hiccup’s here.”

“She can call me—”

Kylie’s squeals erupted from the kitchen, cutting Hiccup off, as Toothless greeted her.

“I think she’s happier to see him than me,” Hiccup muttered to Astrid as they stood in the kitchen entrance.

“Don’t take it personally,” Astrid replied. “Kylie, Hiccup is here.”

Kylie paused, looking up at Hiccup. “Oh,” she said, frowning. She glanced at Astrid, an unsure look in her eyes. “Hi, Hiccup.”

Hiccup opened his mouth, seemed to reconsider what he was going to say, and said, instead, “Morning, Kylie. What are you making?”

“We’re making pancakes,” Kylie said. “And eggs. And toast. And I’m making a potato hash. Oh, and we have some leftover fruit salad that Eret made.”

“Sounds delicious,” Hiccup said, making a weak attempt at a smile.

“Mom’s making the toast,” Kylie said, before a wicked grin appeared on her face. “It’s the only thing she won’t mess up.”

“Hey,” Astrid said, “I’m helping with the pancakes too.”

“I made the batter,” Kylie pointed out.

“True,” Astrid admitted. “Speaking of which, did you flip those?”

“These are new,” Kylie said, nodding at the batter in the pan. “But I should flip them soon.” She returned to the stove.

“She can do that herself?” Hiccup asked Astrid.

“She’s almost _eleven_ ,” Astrid said, giving him a weird look. “She’s not a toddler. She’s old enough to be left home alone, she should be allowed to use the stove. Besides, she’s a responsible kid. She knows how to work a stove and oven. Okay!” Astrid stepped into the kitchen, walking over to the toaster and taking out some toast, buttering it. “We’re going to have to make some more toast, because I’ve already eaten the two pieces I buttered before Hiccup arrived.”

“What can I do?” Hiccup asked.

Kylie glanced at him. “You can set the table,” she said. “Plates are in that cupboard. Silverware are in this drawer.And you can get some juice from the fridge too.”

Hiccup nodded, quickly starting his task.

It was strategic of Kylie, Astrid thought. Hiccup has busy doing his own thing, and couldn’t near, asking questions. And his tasks were separate enough from their own that conversation was not too permissible.

Finally, they all sat down. There was an awkward silence.

“We don’t pray,” Astrid said. “Except maybe at holidays. And even then mostly just for tradition. So let’s eat. I’m absolutely _starving.”_

“Cause you’re eating for two,” Kylie said, pouring an ample amount of maple syrup on her pancakes. “What if you’re having twins? Then you’d be eating for three.”

“I _hope_ I’m not having twins,” Astrid said.

“I think it would be cool,” Kylie said. “I heard it’s happened. Mrs. Joanspit at school had a sister who thought she was just having one baby for a few months, and then she found out she was actually have two.”

“What a thought,” Astrid said. “Well, I’m pretty sure it’s just the _one_ , for me.”

“It’d be pretty cool,” Kylie said. “Then I’d have two siblings instead of one.”

“Let’s just take things one at a time,” Astrid chuckled, taking a sip of water.

“So,” Hiccup said, speaking up for the first time since they sat down. “Kylie… how is school?”

“Oh,” Kylie shrugged. “It’s cool.”

Kylie then put a piece of pancake in her mouth, taking her time to chew. This was so uncharacteristic of her, for she usually wolfed down her food, that Astrid knew it was an attempt not to have to talk. Astrid suddenly felt irritated at Hiccup again for coming so early.

She and Kylie had agreed that they would talk over breakfast. Astrid had promised Kylie that she would explain everything. They were going to talk it out, and then talk about Hiccup, and what things might mean now. Kylie had been a little… bothered, might be the word, that Astrid had invited Hiccup to spend the day with them without consulting her, but didn’t complain. Astrid only wished she had told Hiccup to come in the afternoon. Her opportunity to explain herself to Kylie before Hiccup arrived was now completely in the bin. Thrown in with the packaging for the sprinkles and chocolate chips that Kylie insisted on putting in the pancakes.

Hiccup seemed to notice these, in particular, when he started eating his own pancakes. “Sprinkles?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Kylie frowned, and Hiccup quickly said, “Tastes great.”

Kylie glanced at Astrid, a mixed look on her face. Astrid shook her head slightly, warning Kylie to be kind to Hiccup. “So,” Hiccup said. “Uh… what are we doing today?”

“I don’t know,” Kylie answered, her voice void of too much emotion.

“I thought we could go to the dog par—” Astrid began, but stopped talking when Kylie shook her head ever so slightly. “Or maybe out to lunch,” Astrid said. Kylie made no indication of protest to this, so Astrid continued, “Or maybe to the park—or we could go to a movie.”

“What movie?” Hiccup asked.

“We could go see that new one, with the talking animals,” Astrid suggested.

Kylie had wanted to see that movie ever since she saw a trailer for it, and had been talking about it nonstop. Hiccup looked at Kylie, a smile on his face. _God,_ Astrid thought, _he is too eager to please._

But she wasn’t complaining.

She was glad he wanted to be involved in Kylie’s life. Had he decided he didn’t want anything to do with them, _actually_ didn’t want anything to do with them this time—she would have been hurt and _pissed_. But somehow the thought that he was here _now_ , being in Kylie’s life, and probably never leaving, didn’t sit well with her either.

She wasn’t used to _sharing_ Kylie. It was just Kylie and her, for nearly eleven years. Eret too, but not in an official way. It was always just _her and Kylie._

Now it was her and Kylie, and _Hiccup_ and Kylie.

She didn’t know how she felt about that, but her mixed feelings on the subject made her feel a stabbing sense of guilt deep in her gut.

“I…” Kylie began. “I was going to go to that with Eret. We talked about it.” Kylie glanced at Hiccup out of the corner of her eyes, before looking back at Astrid. “We did. We’re going to go tomorrow.”

“You didn’t mention that to me,” Astrid said, frowning.

Kylie gave her a look. A look that said, _‘Well, there are things_ **you** _didn’t mention to_ me.’

“Okay,” Astrid said, “You can go to the movie with Eret tomorrow. Is there another movie you’d like to see?”

Kylie didn’t reply. Astrid knew why. Eret always went with them to the movies, if he could. Kylie was used to that. This was different. Kylie wasn’t used to it.

“What about if we go kayaking in the river?” Astrid suggested. Kylie _loved_ kayaking.

“Can Eret come?” was Kylie’s response.

Astrid sighed, glancing at Hiccup, who was frowning at them. He looked… almost hurt. As if he was taking it personally, that his daughter didn’t want to do anything with him. That it seemed more important to her that some other man be involved than _him._ “Can we talk?” Astrid asked him, rising from her seat. Hiccup nodded, getting up as well and following her from the room. They walked into her bedroom, and she closed the door behind her.

He looked around, taking in the cramped room. There was a double bed, a bureau, a closet, and a desk. There wasn’t much standing or walking space. “Look,” Astrid said. “I think we’re going at this too fast.”

Hiccup didn’t reply. He looked like he wanted to protest.

“I know you must feel like you have a lot of… of _time_ to make up for, but,” Astrid paused. “This is a lot for her to take in. She’s not used to having a dad. The only dad she’s really _known_ is Eret.”

“I _know,”_ Hiccup said shortly.

She felt like rolling her eyes. “You just have to get used to the idea that she’s going to need time to adjust. And not take it personally.”

Hiccup didn’t say anything. He stood there, gazing at his feet. “Okay,” he said, finally. “Do you want me to go?”

“I’ll ask Kylie,” she answered. She left the room, and walked into the space shared by the dining and living room. She walked over to Kylie, crouching down beside her chair, and whispering so that Kylie knew their conversation was private. “Do you want Hiccup to come back later?”

Kylie didn’t respond. Finally, she nodded, ever so slightly.

Hiccup stood in the hall, watching this, and when Astrid looked over at him, the hurt look was back on his face. But he nodded. “Maybe we can meet up some other time,” he said, forcing his voice to be cheerful. “You can come over to my dad’s place or something. I’m… going back to Everille on Monday so…”

No one said anything.

“Right,” he said, bouncing a little on his feet, although he looked tired and worn out. “I’ll head out then. Toothless,” he called, and the dog got up from the carpet in the living room, and walked over to him. “See you later, Kylie.”

“See you later, Hiccup,” Kylie replied.

Hiccup hesitated at this, and then nodded again, turning and walking down the hall. Astrid and Kylie listened as he opened the front door and walked out, closing it quietly and gently behind him.

Astrid walked to the kitchen window, looking out to see him drive away. “He’s gone,” she told Kylie.

The girl let out a breath. “Okay,” she replied.

Astrid walked over to her. “I should have told him not to come over so early,” she said. “That’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kylie said.

“He’s trying,” Astrid said, sitting down, and deciding she would eat Hiccup’s leftovers after she was finished with her own. “He just wants to get to know you. But we can take our time,” she added. “There’s no rush.”

“So he’ll be around for a long time?” Kylie asked, looking just as tired as Hiccup looked.

Astrid nodded. “I think he will be.”

“I wish…” Kylie paused. “I wished he wouldn’t.”

Astrid slowly put down her fork. She didn’t know what to say. Should she apologize to her for telling Hiccup? Should she tell Kylie that she would change her mind someday? That she would come to love Hiccup?

The one thing she _couldn’t_ do was tell Hiccup not to be involved now that he knew.

“I know,” Astrid said quietly. “It’s a lot to take in.”

Kylie nodded. “Why didn’t you tell him when you were going to have me?” Kylie was looking at her now, a beseeching look on her face. “You _told me_ that he knew about me. That he left us. You _lied_ to me.”

“I know,” Astrid said, her voice almost cracking. “I _know_ I did. But I didn’t _want_ to. I know that doesn’t change anything. I know it’s still my fault. But I _wanted_ to tell him. I _wanted_ to tell you the truth. But I couldn’t.”

“Because that man made you lie?” Kylie asked.

Astrid nodded. “He is a very bad man,” she said. “And I was a young girl who didn’t know what I was doing. Or the consequences of my actions. I let him manipulate me, because I didn’t know how to stop him. If I could do it over…”

Kylie waited for her to continue.

“I would have told Hiccup. I would have…” She would have found another way to pay off her parent’s debts. “I probably would have married Hiccup. We’d have been a... a family.”

She didn’t say ‘a _happy_ family’. She didn’t know they _would_ have been a happy one. She didn’t think Hiccup would’ve been very happy as a married eighteen year old father.

“We wouldn’t have Eret then, though, would we?” Kylie asked.

“No,” Astrid said. “We probably wouldn’t have Eret.”

“I wouldn’t have this baby brother or sister,” Kylie continued.

“No,” Astrid shook her head. “Without Eret, we wouldn’t have this particular baby, no.”

“Then…” Kylie took in a deep breath. “Then I’m okay… I think. That you didn’t tell him. I would be really sad if I didn’t know Eret.”

“I know,” Astrid said, reaching out for Kylie’s hand. Kylie placed her smaller one in Astrid’s. “Some good things did come from it.”

“Eret is a lot of good things,” Kylie corrected.

Astrid nodded. “So…” she said. “Do you think you’d like to see Hiccup again this weekend? Before he goes home?”

Kylie waited to answer. She thought about it. She thought about it _hard._ “Maybe,” she said. “I’m kind of… he kind of… I’m kind of scared.”

Astrid squeezed her hand, and then tugged on her wrist slightly. Kylie stood at this prompt, and walked round the corner of the table, sitting in Astrid’s lap. “You’re almost too big to do this anymore,” Astrid told her.

Kylie grinned, the first time she had truly smiled since Hiccup arrived earlier. “Soon _you’ll_ be too big for me to do this anymore.”

Astrid rolled her eyes, making an over-the-top show of it. Then she sobered, when she remembered why she had wanted Kylie to be close to her. “It’s going to be okay,” she said, hugging Kylie as close as she could. “Hiccup won’t replace Eret. Hiccup won’t replace me. He probably won’t even be around that much. He just wants to get to know you, because he missed so much of your life. He might not know you very well, and he might not love you yet, but he will. If you let him.”

Kylie nodded slowly. “What if you two have another argument again?”

“What?”

“What if you two fight again?” Kylie said. “What if he hurts you?”

“He won’t,” Astrid said, frowning. “Hiccup would never hurt me. Or you.”

“He had a fight with you.”

“We were both angry. Sometimes adults can have arguments when we’re angry. But part of being an adult is learning to live with each other afterwards. Hiccup was hurt because I never told him that you existed. He was hurt because…” she took in a deep breath. “He probably felt like something that should be the _most_ important thing to him was taken from him without him even knowing. And… you know….I can understand that.”

“Me too,” Kylie said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Astrid squeezed Kylie in a hug, until Kylie said, “I’m going to fart if you do that any more.”

“Good,” Astrid said, but she let go of Kylie anyway. Kylie slid off her lap, and walked over to her seat. “I don’t want him to be my dad, though,” she said, as she sat down and poured more syrup on her pancakes. “But he can be my friend.”

“I think he can live with that,” Astrid lied.

It was good enough for now, anyway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued… ;)
> 
> See you soon!


	7. Chapter 7

Eret had to take a step back to steady himself when Kylie threw her arms around his waist. He stood there, looking down at the top of her head in surprise, before looking up at Astrid, who stood down the hall.

Astrid gave him a tight smile, and mouthed ‘Hiccup’, as if that was ample enough of an answer.

A testament to _how well_ Eret had melded into their lives, it was enough. Eret nodded, crouching down and picking Kylie up as if she were a toddler. Kylie didn’t seem to mind, however. Eret was strong enough to hold her, even though she was almost eleven. Even though she was going to be in middle school next year. In this moment, she _wanted_ to be held.

She didn’t cry. She just sat in Eret’s arms, her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Do you still want to go see _Herd’s A Goat_?” Eret asked her.

“Yeah,” she said. “Put me down, I’ll go get my purse.”

“Purse?” Eret asked, as Kylie hopped down and set off for her bedroom. Eret looked at Astrid. “She has a purse now?”

Astrid shrugged, a smile on her face. “Alice got a purse, so Kylie wanted one too.”

Kylie entered the hall, a small, over-the-shoulder, beaded purse hanging proudly by her side.

“Are you ready?” Eret asked.

Kylie nodded, slipping on her rain boots. Astrid walked to the living room, sitting down.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Eret asked her.

“I’m sure,” Astrid told him. “I have to finish my report before tomorrow.” She turned on the TV, flipping through the channels to find something good.

“So you’re going to watch TV all night?” Kylie asked jokingly.

“Gotta’ have background noise,” Astrid replied, her voice indicating the grin on her face. She had just passed by the local news channel, when she saw a face that she recognized.

Jed Ordony.

She quickly went back, suddenly too anxious to wait until Kylie and Eret were out of the house before watching whatever it was.

_“It appears that Jed Ordony, publicist for Mayor Haddock, has been fired due to allegations that he covered up the Mayor’s teen son’s pregnancy,”_ the newscaster said. _“According to our sources, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, the mayor’s son, who is now twenty-nine, had a child in his late teens, a story which Ordony made sure never saw the light of day. According to the mayor’s representatives, neither the mayor nor his son knew about the child until just recently. We believe the mother may have been paid by Ordony to keep silent about the child. We have no confirmation, but we believe the mother may have been his high school girlfriend, Astrid Hofferson.”_

Astrid quickly shut the TV off, staring at it in horror. Eret and Kylie were standing in the hall, watching her and the TV simultaneously. The room was completely silent, before Astrid slowly stood, turning to look at the two. They both were staring at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have let that play while you were here.”

The look on Kylie’s face made her heart break.

“Let’s go, Kylie,” Eret said, resting a large hand on her shoulder. “Do you still want to go?”

Kylie was catatonic. She didn’t respond. She didn’t move.

“You should go, if you want to,” Astrid said. “ _If_ you want to.”

Kylie nodded slowly. “Okay.” She said. “Okay.”

She wasn’t being facetious. She sounded like she was convincing _herself_ that she wanted to go. “Let’s go, Eret,” she said, turning and walking down the hall towards the front door.

Eret looked at Astrid, and Astrid knew that they were going to have a conversation. She hadn’t had a chance to explain everything to Eret yet. He knew some basic facts about the situation, but not the whole truth. She nodded to him, and he followed Kylie out the door.

Astrid heaved a large sigh, and sank onto the couch. She felt exhausted. She didn’t think she had the energy to finish her report. After ten minutes, she picked her phone up off the coffee table. She texted Hiccup. _That was fast._

She placed it down on the coffee table again, and almost immediately it vibrated and she quickly picked it up again.

_I’m so sorry._

Then,

_Please tell me Kylie didn’t see it._

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep, ragged breath.

_She did,_ Astrid texted back. _I wish she didn’t. But she did._

_Shit,_ was all he texted back.

She decided she didn’t want this conversation to be held via text, and so she dialed his number. He picked up instantly.

_“I’m so sorry,”_ was the first thing that came out of his mouth. “ _I wanted to keep you two out of this but—”_

“You couldn’t have waited a month or two? A _week_?” she demanded. “Kylie is horrified. She’s scared. She’s—”

She stopped herself. She didn’t know why she was getting so mad at _Hiccup_. “Look,” she said. “I need you to deal with this, _please,_ so Kylie and I don’t have to. I know it was my mistake that started all this—”

_“It was Ordony,”_ Hiccup interupted. _“Ordony is the bastard that did this, Astrid.”_

“It was still _my_ choice,” Astrid said. “Yeah, I was eighteen, and easily manipulated, but it was still _my_ choice. And if you think the news outlets _aren’t_ going to paint me as some slut who would do anything for money, then you’re wrong. And… neither are they…” her voice cracked slightly at this, and closed her eyes tightly, willing herself not to cry.

She wouldn’t cry.

Not with Hiccup on the line.

“ _I’m coming over,”_ Hiccup told her.

“Don’t—”

But he had already hung up. She stared at her phone after the three beeps that indicated he was no longer there. She sighed irritably, then realized this may be for the best. She and Hiccup hadn’t had a real chance to talk things out either. Talk things out that didn’t involve yelling.

With Kylie not around, this might be the only time they could do it.

* * *

 

She opened the door just before he was about to knock. She had been pacing her house, frequently going to the kitchen window to peer out, nearly jumping out of her skin every time a car drove by.

“Hey,” he said. He frowned when he saw her.

She knew she looked a mess.

She had been near to tears, her hair half falling out of her bun from lying on the couch, and she had eaten nearly _all_ of Kylie’s lunch snacks. She probably had crumbs on her shirt. She looked down. She did.

“Come in,” she said, stepping aside for him to walk through. He did, taking his shoes and coat off without prompting. She closed the door firmly behind him. “Thanks for coming over,” she said, as she walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch.

He slowly, hesitantly, sat beside her. “I’m sorry this happened,” he said. “I’m sorry you and Kylie had to see that. That you have to be involved.”

Astrid bit her lip, feeling a hard lump form in her throat. She felt as though she were a cup water was being poured into. She was about to overflow and spill everywhere. Suddenly, she couldn’t take it anymore. Her face fell into her hands as she started to cry softly.

Hiccup sat there as if he wasn’t sure what to do. Finally, he rested a hand on her back, rubbing in small circles. He didn’t say anything, which Astrid was thankful for.

“I’m sorry,” she finally choked out. “It’s the baby. It’s making me overly emotional.”

“It’s okay,” he said softly.

She nodded, bringing her hands away from her face. She sniffled and tried to get herself under control. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of _Hiccup._ “I’m sorry,” she said.

“ _I’m_ sorry,” he said. “I wanted to keep you and Kylie out of all this…”

She nodded. “I just think about what everyone is going to say about us. About _Kylie._ ”

“They’re not going to—”

“They are,” she bit at him. “People are going to hate Ordony, sure. But they’re going to hate _me_ more. They’re going to look at me, and think that I’m selfish and... They’re going to say I never deserved you. That _Kylie_ doesn’t deserve you. They’re going to _hate_ me. They’re going to hate _us._ ”

By ‘us’, Hiccup knew she meant her and Kylie.

“They’re not—”

“They are!”

She didn’t mean to shout it. Or maybe she did. She didn’t know. Quieter, she said, “I’m a _woman_ , Hiccup. I’m a _woman_ , who allowed someone to pay her to keep a man’s child away from him. They’ll hate Ordony, but they’ll forget about him after the trial, if there even _will_ be a trial. But me? I’ll be notorious. I’ll never be forgotten. I’ll never live this down and I’ll never be able to be free of it.” She heaved a long, ragged breath.

“I’ll blow over eventually,” he said gently. “And my dad and I will do everything we can to make sure both Kylie _and_ you get out of this as unscathed as possible.” After moment, he asked, “Where’s Kylie? At the movies with Eret?”

Astrid nodded.

Hiccup sighed. He wanted to be there, Astrid knew. He was leaving first thing in the morning to go back to Everille.

“What am I going to do about Kylie?” she asked, to no one on in particular. “People at school… the kids, her _friends_ , they’re all going to find out. I’m not sure how to help her through this… I just…I just keep thinking about what would have happened if I had refused Ordony’s offer. If I had told you. We probably would have gotten married. We probably would have gotten divorced by now.”

“You don’t know that,” Hiccup said. “We can’t go down that road. I’ll… I… It’s too hard. To think about what might have been. What _should_ have been. And it’s not all your fault.”

She looked at him in surprise.

“I should have fought for you,” he said. “I should have realized there was a reason why you stopped wanting to see me. Why you refused for enough years that I just stopped trying. I shouldn’t have given up so easily. If I had fought for you… I would have found out you were pregnant. I would have found out why you kept it from me.”

They sat there, neither speaking.

“I wish…” she said, her voice cracking again. “I wish we had never broken up.”

She felt like crying again.

Why did she have to be pregnant? She _loved_ this baby. But right now, it was making her feel like a faulty shower. She felt tears escape her eyes, running down her cheek and slipping into her mouth. She tasted salt. She felt Hiccup wipe one away before the droplet, too, slid into her mouth.

“Me too,” he whispered. “But we did. And I don’t think we can come back from what happened.”

She nodded. She turned and buried her head into her shoulder. She let herself cry again. He held her tightly, but not too tightly, as if he was scared. Either of the intimacy, or for the baby, she didn’t know. She shuddered against him as she cried, and she could feel him shaking slightly as well, and knew that he, too, was crying.

“Why are you comforting _me?”_ she demanded, drawing away from him slightly. “Hiccup… why did you even come over… why—”

“Astrid,” he said softly, as if saying her name was enough to make his point.

“ _Hiccup,”_ she interrupted. “I kept your daughter from you for _eleven and a half_ _years._ You have no idea how shocked I am that you are even still talking to me. You have _every_ right to want nothing to do with me. To _hate_ me, and yet you’re…”

She could feel herself tearing up again, so she pointedly looked away. If only she wasn’t pregnant… She remembered being equally emotional when she was pregnant with Kylie, and yet that was because she was facing a life with a child alone, not the other way around.

“Astrid,” he said, leaning forward, his arms snaking around her again, attempting to draw her in close. “I don’t hate you.”

She looked at him “You should,” she said simply.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, letting go of her slightly to lean back in his seat. “I mean… a part of me _wants_ to hate you. But…” he trailed off. “That wouldn’t be fair to Kylie. And besides… I could never hate you.”

“Can you ever forgive me though?” she choked out. “After everything I did?”

He didn’t reply. He looked like he wanted to say yes, but could not quite make himself do it.

She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from crying again. _Damn these hormones._ “I’m so, so, _so_ sorry Hiccup. I’m so sorry I kept Kylie from you. That I broke up with you. I was so _selfish_ , and _weak_ , and you have no idea how much I wish I did things differently… I can’t even _imagine_ how much I’ve hurt you, and I know I have no right to be forgiven… and—”

He pulled her into another embrace, tucking her head under his chin.

It might not have been the answer she was looking for, but it was enough for now.

And suddenly, she wanted to kiss him.

She didn’t know why. She knew it was stupid. She knew she shouldn’t, that it would be a mistake so big they would never recover from it. But in that moment, she thought it would make her feel better. She thought if she kissed him, everything would be better, for just a moment. And if they slept together, she would be better for even longer.

She drew away from him slightly, just enough to look him in the face. His eyes were red and glossy, his cheeks stained with tears, his nose and cheeks splotchy. Their faces were close—so close that Astrid theorized that they _were already_ almost kissing. What difference would a few inches make? She drew closer to him, and was encouraged when he made no move to stop her or indication he would object, when she heard a car pull up to the side of the street.

Immediately, the spell was broken. She drew away from him, jumping up from her seat, and walking quickly to the door. It was Eret and Kylie; They were getting out of Eret’s truck; Astrid didn’t realize the time. She glanced at her watch. They had only left forty-five minutes ago. Much too soon to be coming back already. She could only guess that Kylie had wanted to come home early.

It was then that she noticed the van parked outside her house. It didn’t have any markings on it, but Astrid knew as soon as people started jumping out of it, cameras attached to their shoulders and microphones in their hands, that they were reporters.

She swore loudly, loud enough that Hiccup sprang to his feet.

Eret and Kylie, who had been making their way up the path when the reporters had left the van, froze as the intruders began to walk quickly towards them, calling out questions.

Astrid drew open the door and rushed outside, down the step and path until she reached Kylie. She grabbed Kylie by the arm, pulling her towards the door. Hiccup was at the door at that moment, coming towards them as well.

“Miss Hofferson?” one woman, trailed by a cameraman and someone holding a light, “Do you mind answering a few questions? Is this your daughter? Her name is Kylie, right? Why did you hide her from Hiccup Haddock? Mr. Haddock, what do you plan to do now that you know about your daughter?”

“Go inside,” Hiccup told Astrid, and Astrid quickly complied, pulling Kylie along.

Kylie didn’t need prompting. She and Astrid hurried inside. As soon as the door was shut, Kylie burst into tears. Astrid didn’t this time. Couldn’t. Not when Kylie needed her to be the strong one. She pulled Kylie into a tight hug, and then led her into Kylie’s bedroom, and shut the door. Here, they couldn’t hear Hiccup and Eret and the reporters outside.

Kylie sobbed in her arms, so hard that her entire body shook.

Astrid didn’t know what to say to console her. What _could_ she say? When she herself needed consoling? So she just led Kylie to her bed and together they curled under the blankets, holding each other.

* * *

 

Eret peeked into Kylie’s room about half an hour later. “They’re gone,” Eret told her quietly, so as to not wake up Kylie. “They shouldn’t come back.”

Astrid nodded mutely. Kylie had just fallen asleep, so she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to wake her up.

“Hiccup went home,” Eret continued. “But I can stay, if you want.”

Astrid nodded again, her eyes welling up with tears.

Eret nodded, and closed the door.

Astrid realized she needed someone to talk to, so she slowly untangled herself from Kylie, and left the room, closing the door behind her as gently as possible. She walked to the couch, where Eret was waiting for her. She sat down, staring, her eyes sore and throbbing, wondering if she would cry again.

She didn’t, thankfully.

Eret drew her into an embrace. He held her, and she relaxed against him, her breath hitching. “Why did I have to…” she breathed, “Why did I have to do any of it? I’m so… _stupid…”_

He didn’t reply.

Eret, at least, knew what it was like to do something stupid and get punished for it. He knew what it was like, for someone to look at him, and see his mistakes before they saw a person. He held her as she cried, until she felt like there were no more tears left in her. She was exhausted.

And then she kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued…
> 
> Dun Dun Dun… ;)
> 
> See you soon!


	8. Chapter 8

She opened her eyes, before sitting up abruptly. Immediately, she grabbed her phone and turned off her alarm. It was a few minutes before it was set to go off, but it was better that it _didn’t._ She stared at it for a moment, before noticing that there was a text from Hiccup.

_Are you and Kylie alright?_

She blinked, and glanced over at the other side of the bed.

Eret was still asleep.

She sent Hiccup a quick text, telling him that Kylie was still asleep, and slipped out of bed, quickly pulling on her pajamas. She needed to call work and the school—tell them she _and_ Kylie wouldn’t be in. She didn’t want to leave the house. She didn’t want to see _anyone_ who wasn’t Kylie or Eret.

She walked out into the living room, and left voicemails at work and Kylie’s school, and then sat down on the couch. She turned on the TV, and quickly switched the channel to cartoons, but not before seeing that the News was running the same story again.

How long would they run it? When would this all blow over?

For Hiccup, his dad, and even Ordony, it was probably going to blow over _long_ before it did for her.

She turned her head to see Eret step out of her room. He was wearing his pants, but he was shirtless. His shirt was in the living room, she remembered. She was just about to pick it up, to throw it to him, when someone knocked on the front door.

She felt herself freeze, horrified at the thought of seeing anyone right now. She gave Eret a pleading look, and he nodded, turning and walking down the hall towards the door. She heard him open it, and there was a silence, before Eret spoke one word that somehow made everything worse.

“Hiccup.”

Astrid closed her eyes, slowly standing and walking into the hall. She stood on the other end, gazing at Eret’s back, and in front of him, Hiccup.

Hiccup was staring at Eret with a shocked look, before looking behind him at Astrid.

“Can you go check on Kylie?” Astrid asked Eret, who nodded. Eret entered the living room, grabbed his shirt, put it on, and walked back into the hall, slipping into Kylie’s room to check on her. Astrid stood on her end of the hall, while Hiccup stood at the door. Neither said anything.

Finally, Astrid stepped forward. She needed to be closer to Hiccup—she didn’t want to speak too loud and wake Kylie up. “What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I’m…” Hiccup glanced at Kylie’s door, before looking back at her. “I came to check on you. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I left.”

“I’m—” But she couldn’t say she was fine. She wasn’t. Not at all. Not by a long shot. She couldn’t even _pretend_ she was okay. She looked down at her bare toes, before looking back at Hiccup, looking him straight in the face.

“Did you and Eret…” Hiccup paused, before shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter. Is Kylie still asleep?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly, “I think so.”

“Okay,” he said. “Will you tell her I stopped by?”

She nodded.

He took in a breath, about to say something, and finally just awkwardly hugged her. “My dad is going to make sure the reporters leave you two alone.”

“Okay,” she said, relaxing into his embrace.

Hiccup let go of her, stepped down the step to the path. “I’ll be back next weekend,” he said. “I can’t miss too much work, but I’ll be back soon.”

Astrid nodded.

“Tell Kylie I stopped by,” Hiccup told her, as he turned and started down the path. “Tell her… I’m sorry.”

He walked to his car and got in, looking at her through the passenger window, before driving off. She watched him disappear down the road, and realized, that she wanted him to hold her forever. But she also wanted him to go away. But she _also_ wanted him to stay and deal with this situation.

But life was never that easy for her.

And eventually, she’d have to toughen herself up, just like she always does, and deal with it herself.

And she might as well start now.

* * *

 

_Rosianne’s_ fell silent as she stepped through the doors. She looked around, looking every customer in the face, but she stayed by the door. She wondered why she felt like she needed an invitation to walk to the counter and place an order.

She _could_ have ordered delivery. But she wanted practice. Practice going into places that would have heard the story that even the national news outlets were running. The story about the teenage girlfriend that was paid to keep the grandchild of a former presidential candidate a secret. The grandchild of the mayor of Berk.

The first person or move was Rose. She walked around the counter, walking towards Astrid, and, in front of everyone, pulled her into a tight hug. Astrid _almost_ felt like she could cry again.

As if a spell was broken, the patrons began to return to their own private conversations and meals. She still got a few peculiar or ill-intentioned looks as Rose brought her to the counter, but she ignored them.

If _Rose_ didn’t mind, then things were at least _starting_ to look okay.

“What do you want?” Rose asked her. “I’ll give you anything. On the house.”

“Do you have some time?” Astrid asked. “I could use someone to talk to.”

Rose nodded, nodding for Astrid to follow her back. They entered Rose’s tiny office. “I don’t run any news channels anymore,” she said. “I don’t like the way they’re painting you. So I don’t run them.”

Astrid didn’t thank her. It seemed like a strange thing to thank someone for. Instead, she sat down.

“How’s the baby?” Rose asked, sitting on her own seat. “How’s Kylie?”

“The baby is fine,” Astrid said. “And Kylie is… dealing with things. I thought things were bad enough when Hiccup came into the picture but—this is _so_ much worse.”

Rose reached out and grasped Astrid’s hand, holding it tightly in hers. “It’ll be alright. Maybe not right now. Maybe not for a long time. But you’ll get through this. You both will.”

Astrid nodded. She sighed. “I’m sorry I lied to you,” she said, looking up at Rose.

Rose shook her head, a soft, sad smile on her lips. “You know,” she said. “I _know_ you, Astrid. I know you wouldn’t have told me that story unless you had no choice. I know that whatever the news people and reporters say about you, it’s not true. I know that _you’re_ the victim in all of this. You and Kylie.”

Astrid knew that Rose wasn’t entirely accurate. Of course, she _was_ roped by Ordony into living a lie and hurting the people around her. But Astrid hated seeing herself as a victim. Right now, however, it didn’t seem prudent to correct the women.

“No wonder Hiccup was so insulted when I glared at him,” Rose said, breaking the mood with a joke as she drew her hand away. “Anyway, I want you to know that you have a friend with me, with all of us here. And not only that, you have allies too. If anyone has a problem with you, I won’t serve them.”

Astrid looked at her, raising her eyebrows.

“I have the _right,”_ Rose said, “To deny service to _anyone._ If any assholes come in here, I’m turning them right out.”

“Thanks,” Astrid laughed, but it was wet laugh.

She wondered if she would be this emotional if she wasn’t pregnant. If she would have a better handle on things. She knew it didn’t matter to think about. She _was_ pregnant. She _was_ being emotional. And despite these things, she still had to deal with this herself.

“I almost kissed Hiccup,” Astrid said. “Last night. I almost kissed him.”

Rose raised her eyebrows, and waited for Astrid to continue.

“But somehow…” Astrid said, almost as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying, “I slept with Eret instead.”

Rose’s eyebrow lowered. “You had sex with him?”

Astrid nodded.

“I see.” Rose thought about this. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for the two of you to get together. But still, this might not be the best time to—”

“I don’t know if I even _want_ to get together with Eret,” Astrid said. “I know it’s not the best time. But… I just needed…”

“I get it,” Rose said. “You needed comfort. He was there.”

Astrid nodded. “I mean, I can see me and him—but with Hiccup… but Hiccup and I could never…” she trailed off. “Eret is still there, at home, but Kylie woke up and we didn’t have a chance to talk about it. We couldn’t talk around Kylie, and she wanted to be near us.” Astrid paused, “I’m going to have to talk with him, right?”

“Right,” Rose nodded firmly. “When you made the baby that was different. That had a purpose. No… _romantic_ or sexual strings attached, I presume. But this is different, I’d say. You want to make sure you’re both on the same page.”

“Yeah,” Astrid said. “Yeah, you’re right. Of course you’re right.”

“Oh!” Rose straightened as if she suddenly remembered something. “You wanted something for lunch, right? Hold on,” she picked up the phone and pressed one of the buttons. It rang a few times, before someone picked up. It was Marcus. As Rose listed off a plethora of items, Astrid smiled, knowing that maybe she’d be okay.

She had Rose by her side, after all.

And Rose, if nothing else, was a power horse.

And she had Eret.

And, even, possibly, she had Hiccup.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued…
> 
> A short chapter… but chapters in this story are generally pretty short. But there’s a lot of them. Like… a lot. I’m not even a third of the way through the story and there’s like 20.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Astrid arrived at home a little while later, and Eret met her at the door. He raised his eyebrows, and took the bags and boxes from her. He then, after depositing them inside, came outside and helped her bring the rest in. “Rose is a mother hen,” she said in way of an explanation.

“You don’t need to tell me,” he replied, as he closed the door behind them. He walked to the kitchen and stared at all the food. “Where are you going to _put_ all of this?”

“Fridge? And you can take some home,” Astrid said. “Do you think Kylie will leave her room?”

Eret shrugged, looking at her, an honestly worried look on his face. “I don’t know,” he said.

She looked at Kylie’s door, wanting to go in there. She wanted to check on Kylie, to come out and get something to eat. But she also needed to talk to Eret. She needed to talk to Eret _as soon as possible._ “Can we talk?” she asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Eret paused, before nodding. He already knew what she was about to say.

“Thank you, for last night,” she said, first. “I needed that. I needed the comfort. I needed to feel…”

_Loved?_

She didn’t want to say that. She didn’t want Eret to think she thought he loved her in that way. She didn’t want to admit that he might. Not in that way. “Just, thanks.”

He nodded, looking slightly awkward.

“But I think, now isn’t the right time for anything between us to… you know, happen,” Astrid said. “I mean, I think that if I could choose any guy to be with, it would probably be you. We’re having a kid together… you practically helped me _raise_ Kylie, and we’re pretty much already dating.”

Eret nodded his agreement.

“I think Kylie would be thrilled if we got together,” Astrid continued. “But I also know that it would be too much for her to handle right now. With Hiccup showing up—and now being in her life, and with all this shit with the news and Ordony and everything… I don’t want to overwhelm her. And if we do get together, I don’t want it tainted, in her mind or ours, with all this crap.”

Eret nodded. Then he crossed the distance between them and embraced her.

And she knew what it meant.

* * *

 

Eret had long since left, having to get to work, when the doorbell rang.

She almost ignored it, but Kylie had peeked out from her room, saying, “Who is that?” in a small, scared voice, and Astrid knew she had to answer it, if only to see who it was.

As Astrid walked down the hall, Kylie shut her door and locked it. When Astrid reached the door, the bell rang again. She opened the door, and froze.

 _Mayor Haddock_ stood on the other side of the threshold. Behind him, there was a middle aged woman who looked years younger than what age she had to be, and a town car was parked on the side of the street.

“Hello, Astrid,” Stoick said, smiling down at her. “Can we come inside?”

Astrid nodded mutely, stepping aside for him to enter.

“Hi,” the woman behind him said, stepping up to the door and offering her hand. Astrid took it, and the woman shook it with an impossibly strong grip. “My name is Lora Irving, I’m Mayor Haddock’s new publicist and personal secretary.” Her voice was somewhat squeaky, and a little girly.

“Okay,” Astrid said, as the woman slipped past her to the inside of the house as well.

Astrid shut the door and paused, feeling her heart race, before she turned and walked to the dining room area, where Stoick and Lora were standing, looking around. “Sorry the place is kind of a mess,” she said, just now realizing what an empty pizza box, coke bottles and dirty plates, remnants of lunch, would look like to strangers.

Stoick shook his head, turning to face her. “How have you been?”

It was such an absurd question, that for a moment, Astrid couldn’t answer. She decided against a sarcastic response, and instead said, “I’m doing… okay.”

“Good,” Stoick said. “I came for a few reasons. One, to tell you that I am dealing with this situation personally. And two, we want you to make a statement, live, on television.”

“ _What?”_ Astrid stared at them.

“I know, it sounds like a lot,” Lora said quickly. “But we want to do this before too much time passes. We want people to hear _your_ side the story. So that they know that _you’re_ the victim here. We want to… raise the public’s opinions of you. Right now, it’s not… _pretty._ And if we can get the public to take _your_ side? Things will blow over for you a lot easier and a lot faster. Of course, it won’t be perfect. There will still be people who will disapprove of your actions. But we want to make it clear to the public that you are not at fault.”

“But…” Astrid said. “I _am_ at fault. I agreed to Ordony’s terms.”

“You were a child,” Stoick corrected. “You were a child who was manipulated and used by a very nasty man.”

“I was eighteen,” Astrid said.

“Which most people, at least at my age, would agree, is still a child,” Stoick said. “I admire that you want to take responsibility for your actions, it’s part of why I was always so fond of you, but it’s important for you to remember that you are not entirely to blame.”

“But,” Astrid countered, not willing to let it go, “I didn’t come out with the truth for eleven years.”

Stoick waved her off. “I’ve ordered an investigation into Ordony’s dealings—trust me, from what’s surfacing, this isn’t the worst thing he’s done, as hard as that might be to believe. With what he’s capable of, I don’t blame you.”

She wondered what an investigation into Ordony would do to Stoick’s career, but instead glanced at her hands. “When would I have to do this? And… can I think about it?”

“Yes,” Stoick said. “I’ve already made a few small announcements, but I plan to make a public, official announcement later today. I will be saying that I do not blame you, but blame Ordony. Hiccup will also be making a public announcement. He will be making the same one.”

“He’d be lying,” Astrid said.

Stoick shook his head. “I can’t say that you and Hiccup will ever have a… perfect relationship after this. But I assure you, he doesn’t blame you.”

“We were hoping you could make the announcement this Friday, when Hiccup returns,” Lora cut in. “That way the public knows you’re in this together.”

“It’s your choice if you want Kylie there,” Stoick added.

“No!” Then, feeling apologetic that she nearly shouted, she said, quieter, “No. She’s been through enough.”

“Of course,” Lora said, nodding and smiling at her. “And, if it makes you feel any better… this is one of the more morally pure cases I’ve had to smooth over. I once had to make a married governor with _three_ illegitimate children by _three_ different women, all born within one year, look like a saint. You?You’re already a saint.”

Astrid gave her a weak smile.

“I was hoping,” Stoick said, changing the conversation. “That I could _meet_ Kylie.”

“What, today?” Astrid asked him.

“I am here. Is she?” Stoick asked.

Astrid glanced over her shoulder at Kylie’s door. She thought about telling Stoick Kylie was at school—but knew that looking over her shoulder at a door that had the words “Kylie” written out in colorful wooden letters was a sure tell that Kylie was in fact _here._ “She doesn’t want to see anyone,” she said, looking back at Stoick. “Sorry, it would be best if you met her some other time.”

Stoick looked disappointed. He looked _more_ than disappointed. “Alright,” he said, nodding his head. “I understand. We’ll leave you be, but we’ll stay in touch.”

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call,” Lora said, handing Astrid a business card. Then Lora handed her one of Stoick’s as well.

Astrid walked them to the door.

“The news should leave you alone,” Stoick said. “At least, they shouldn’t come around here for a little bit. But they might still find ways to show up and try to ask questions.”

“Just say ‘No comment’, and keep walking,” Lora told her, smiling. “And don’t hit anyone.”

Astrid laughed at that, but it was a weak attempt at a laugh. Then the two wished her goodbye, and got into the town car, and drove off.

Astrid stared as the car drove up the street, and sighed. She walked back inside, closing the door behind her. She heard a _click_ as Kylie’s door unlocked, and Kylie stepped into the hall. “That was Mayor Haddock,” she said. She said it as a statement, not a question.

“Yes,” Astrid replied.

“My grandfather?”

“Yes,” Astrid said again.

Kylie was silent for a moment. “He wants you to go on TV?”

“Yes,” Astrid nodded.

Kylie shrugged. “What are you going to say?”

Now it was Astrid’s turn to shrug. “I’ll probably say the truth.”

“And that make things better?” Kylie asked her. She sounded simultaneously hopeful and skeptical.

“I don’t know,” Astrid said, her voice tired. “I don’t know anything.”

Kylie walked over to her, hugging her around the middle. The top of her head reached Astrid’s chest, and Astrid suddenly wondered when her child had grown up so much. So much, and Hiccup hadn’t even been around to see it. What must it have been like? For Kylie to open that door, and Hiccup to see her. An _eleven_ year old. _Almost_ eleven year old. And the realization that he missed every moment leading up to that one. Her first crawl. Her first steps. Her first words. The first time she kicked a soccer ball or dribbled a basketball. Her first drawing. The first time she cried. The first time she lost a sports match. The time she messed up during a piano recital and kept going regardless. When she made her first real friend. When she lost a friend. When she was sick. When she was happy. When she was sad.

And Astrid realized Hiccup was not the only one robbed. _She_ was robbed of sharing these things with him. They were both robbed of going through it _together_. Of figuring things out piece by piece. Of the hard times, and the great. Of getting to know and love and care for, _together,_ this wonderful, perfect little girl.

Of being a _family._

And no matter how difficult that thought was, it could only be a fraction of the pain _Hiccup_ was feeling.

And suddenly, she knew what she was going to say.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TO BE CONTINUED…
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

She got fired. _Fired._

They gave her some half-assed excuse. Something about ‘unwanted attention at the offices’.She almost wanted to believe that was the only reason, and not because they thought she was unsuitable for the workplace.

At least, she thought to herself, as she ate some pizza, at least it was only an internship. So what if it would have been the gateway to her dream job? So what if it was the best opportunity she could have gotten here in Berk? It was only an internship. There was _no_ guarantee it would even lead into anything. And did she _really_ want to work somewhere that would fire a pregnant single mother because of some bad publicity?

No.

No she didn’t.

But that didn’t change the fact that she was now out of a job. Tomorrow was Friday. Tomorrow she was going to go on live television and make a public statement. With Hiccup.

Hiccup didn’t know she lost her job.

She hadn’t told anyone that yet. She told Kylie, and she told Eret, and she told Rose. But not Hiccup. Lora had found out about it, and told her this would actually work in her favor. She said some people would feel bad for her when they found out she lost her job, that she was more than qualified for, when the news got out.

Astrid picked up another slice, her second that snacking period, and bit into it. She knew she should watch her diet. She should eat perfectly healthy food and take her pills and do everything _right._ But right now? She felt like _pizza._ The _baby_ felt like _pizza._ And she wasn’t going to argue with the baby.

It didn’t help that it was Kylie’s first day back at school. She had begged to stay home longer—but the vice principle had called to remind Astrid that Kylie shouldn’t miss too much school without a doctor’s note. The vice principle had called today to request that Kylie see a therapist.

Astrid thought that was actually a very good idea, and had spent the morning arguing with their insurance company over coverage. She wanted a _good_ therapist, and she wanted it mostly covered. She was willing, of course, pay out of pocket, but with her out of a job, even a lousy paying internship, she had wanted to make sure she didn’t try everything else first.

She _could_ ask Hiccup. _Hiccup_ had enough money to pay out of pocket for therapy sessions for Kylie. For Astrid too, if she wanted them. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. If it came down to it, if she _absolutely_ couldn’t afford it, she would ask him. But she wanted that to be Plan Triple Z. She didn’t like the idea of owing Hiccup any money, or favors.

She checked the time, and saw that it was quarter to two. She should leave to pick Kylie up now. Beat the traffic. Wait in the parking spot. She dreaded the other parents looking at her, or worse, speaking to her, but she didn’t want Kylie to take the bus home, like usual. School would be hard enough.

She left the house, getting into her car and driving down the street. She realized halfway to the school that she could have asked Eret to pick Kylie up, but decided this was for the best. She needed to get this over with. She needed to get past the worry of what people would think of her. She wanted to show people that she may have messed up nearly twelve years ago, but she wasn’t going to let a mistake bring her down. That their judgement didn’t bother her.

She parked, and waited until two fifteen, when she got out of the car, locked it, and walked towards the entrance of the school. It was busy—as it always was. She stood outside, waiting. Other parents were doing the same, and most were sending her looks. Some confused, some intrigued, some accusatory, and some, and these, Astrid found, were by far the worst, some with pity.

The bell rang and after a few minutes, students began milling out of the front doors. Kylie was one of the first. She looked slightly out of breath, as if she had been running for the door. She scanned the crowd of students and parents, before spotting Astrid, and made a bee line for her. “Let’s go,” she said, walking towards the parking lot.

Astrid hurried to keep up. She didn’t say anything until they had gotten in the car and started driving home. “How did it go?” Astrid asked, hesitantly.

Kylie shrugged.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Astrid asked.

“No.”

Astrid drummed her fingers on the wheel. “Okay,” she said. “That’s fine.”

She _needed_ to get Kylie a therapist. It didn’t matter how much it cost. It didn’t matter if she had to go to Hiccup on both knees and _beg_ him to cover the costs. She was going to get a therapist for Kylie. Why hadn’t she thought of it before? It seemed so obvious now.

They got home and Astrid took Kylie’s backpack as they walked inside.

“The place is a mess, Mom,” Kylie said, stopping before the dining and living room area, staring around.

“I know,” Astrid said.

“It’s _never_ like this,” Kylie said.

“I know,” Astrid said again.

“I don’t _want_ it like this,” Kylie continued. “I liked it _before._ ”

Astrid wasn’t sure if Kylie meant ‘back when you were a clean freak and everything was spotless’ or ‘back before all this shit happened’. She supposed it could be both. “I’ll clean it,” Astrid promised.

“And you have to eat better,” Kylie said, looking at the pizza box on the table. “You’re being bad to the baby.”

“I know,” Astrid said, after a moment’s pause. “I know.”

“And you have to exercise,” Kylie said. “And you have to take your pills. And you have to find a job.”

“I know.”

Kylie continued to stare at the table. She didn’t move. She just stood there. “Hiccup is coming back tomorrow.”

She said this as a fact.

“Yes,” Astrid said. “He’s coming back tomorrow. He’ll be here for the weekend.”

“I don’t…” Kylie stopped talking abruptly, then continued on, “I don’t want to see him.”

“Kylie…” Astrid began.

“He started all this,” Kylie snapped. “Everything was _perfect_ before he came.”

“It’s not all his fault,” Astrid said. “It’s mine too—”

Kylie shook her head violently. “That man. Ordony or whatever… he… he made you do the stuff you did. And I hate him. I _hate_ him. But… things were perfect anyway. And then _Hiccup_ showed up… and… and everything… everything turned to _shit.”_

She hissed the word like it would burn her tongue, quiet and forced, as if someone was going to pop around the corner and punish her. But she said it was such vehemence, such emotion, that Astrid was taken aback.

“So don’t make me see him,” Kylie said. “ _Please_ don’t make me see him.”

“Okay,” Astrid said. “Okay, I won’t make you see him.”

“I _never_ want to see him,” Kylie continued. “I want him to stay in Everille and _never_ come here again.”

“I…” Astrid paused. “I can’t promise that, honey. But I _can_ say that, _this_ weekend, at least, I won’t make you see him. I promise.”

Kylie nodded.

“Can I do anything for you?” Astrid asked her.

Kylie shook her head.

“Do you want to do your homework?”

Again, Kylie shook her head.

“Want to watch TV?” Astrid asked, resorting to a _last_ resort rather quickly.

Kylie gave her a sidelong glance. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do that. But first, I want you to eat something good. Like a salad or carrots or a smoothie or something.”

“Okay,” Astrid said. “Can you help me? You’re so much better at cooking than I am. And you know how much I _love_ your smoothies.”

For a moment, Astrid could have sworn the corners of Kylie’s lips twitched. But it was gone just as quickly, and soon Kylie and Astrid were the kitchen, preparing a smoothie for the both of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued…
> 
> Next chapter is a doozy. Kind of emotional? All I have to say is “Poor Dadcup, man, he doesn’t deserve this.” Let’s just say Astrid says some things she regrets.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> See you soon!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of… an emotional chapter? Or at least, characters get emotional. And say things they don’t mean. And, uh, you guys might get mad at Astrid, but, it’s important to remember how stressed out and tense she is at the moment. And anyone who’s ever experienced guilt and a wounded pride at the same time can probably testify that it can make you say things you might regret.

 

Eret was at home with Kylie, and Astrid had made him promise not to let her watch the news. She had it DVR’d however, so that she and Kylie could watch it, potentially, together later.

“You’re not going Live for a little while longer,” Lora told her, “Come in here and we’ll to talk things out—what you’re going to say, things to stay clear from, stuff like that. Hiccup just arrived as well.”

Astrid followed her into a meeting room. They were in the town building. That’s where they were going to be broadcasted from. As Astrid entered the room, she found there were a few people in there already. Stoick was there, as well as Hiccup, and a few others that Astrid did not recognize.

“Please, sit,” Lora said, motioning to a chair next to Hiccup. Astrid sat dutifully.

“You look nice,” Hiccup told her.

She looked at him as if he was absurd. Why was he complimenting her _looks_ at a time like this?

“So,” Lora said, sitting down a few seats away from them. “Things to touch upon would be,” she glanced down at her notes, and then back at Hiccup, Astrid and Stoick. “The fact that Ordony manipulated you. That you raised your daughter by yourself, that you _wanted_ to tell Hiccup the truth.”

She paused, and then continued. “It’s important for the public to know that he paid you to give up the baby, and that you _wanted to keep her._ It’s important for them to know that by deciding to keep her, you were, albeit illegally, contractually obligated to forgo all contact with Hiccup or anyone from your old life. That by then, you regretted your decision to make a deal with him. You can do that, right?”

Astrid nodded. She knew what the woman was doing, but she wasn’t sure she liked it. She didn’t like being a victim.

“Make sure to mention that you lost your job because of this,” Lora continued, “And that as a single mother—”

“You lost your job?” Hiccup looked at her sharply. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Astrid looked at him, again wondering why he was asking such an absurd question. “Why would I need to tell you that?”

“I don’t know,” he said, his voice tense, “Maybe because my daughter’s main guardian is out of a job?”

She opened her mouth to tell him she would be able to get another job, when he continued. “I’m going to tell the interviewer that I’m planning on paying child support.”

“No, you’re not,” Astrid said quickly, her pride stung by his blatant disregard for her capabilities. 

“What?” Hiccup looked at her as if _she_ were crazy. Maybe she was. “What are you _talking_ about?”

“You’re not going to do that, because you’re not going to be paying _anything,”_ Astrid said. “Kylie and I have managed perfectly well on our own for eleven years. We don’t need your money.”

Hiccup’s eyes widened. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at her. “Astrid, I just want to—”

“Yeah, well, reconsider it,” she said shortly.

“I can’t just _not_ look out for you two,” he said. “She’s my _daughter_ , I want to make sure she has everything she needs.”

Astrid bristled, insulted by the fact that he seemed to think that just because he showed up she couldn’t handle things anymore. Or that he suddenly had the right to barge into their life and take over things. Or that he dared to think that before him, Kylie didn’t have everything she needed. As if Astrid was somehow lacking as a mother and provider.

“Well, she doesn’t need _you, or_ your money _”_ Astrid snapped back, before she could stop herself.

The room was silent. Hiccup stared at her, his expression mixed. His mouth moved, as if he was trying to talk, but no noise came out. He continued to stare at her, as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“Let’s not be hasty and say things we don’t mean,” Stoick said. “Perhaps we should take a break and cool down before we—”

“So—” Hiccup interrupted, still staring at Astrid. “What is _that_ supposed to mean?!”

“She doesn’t want to see you anymore,” Astrid said. “Kylie. Doesn’t. Want. To. See. You. Anymore.”

She might as well as slapped him.

No, that wasn’t accurate.

He looked like she had just sucker punched him in the gut. With brass knuckles.

In fact, she thought, guilt and regret trickling down the back of her spine, he looked like he was about to start crying. He stood up abruptly, and left the room.

Everyone sat in a stunned silence.

“I’ll go check on him,” Stoick said, slowly rising from his seat. He walked from the room, closing the door behind him.

No one looked at her, and for this she was thankful. Her cheeks were burning with humiliation and regret. She wanted to take back her words, but they were correct, weren’t they? Unless Kylie didn’t _truly_ wish to never see Hiccup again. Astrid wasn’t sure her daughter was completely against Hiccup ever being involved or around.

She was sure that Kylie would come around to the idea of Hiccup eventually.

_So why,_ she screamed at herself, _did she just_ say _that to him?_

“I’m sorry,” Astrid said softly.

“We’re not the ones you need to apologize to,” Lora said gently. “But it’s okay. During times like these, it’s easy to let your emotions get the better of you.”

“I should go find him,” Astrid said, rising from her chair. She paused, “Reporters aren’t going to come find me, are they?”

“No,” Lora shook her head. “They wouldn’t be allowed beyond the main hall and news room.”

“Got it,” Astrid nodded, and left the room. She looked down a few halls first, before heading to the men’s restroom. She stood before the door, and knocked. There was no answer, until, just when she was about to walk away, Stoick opened the door and stood there. “Can I talk to him?” she asked him.

Stoick glanced to the side, somewhere within the restroom, and then turned back to her, nodding. He stepped out of the room. “He’s the only one in there,” he told her, as he started walking towards their meeting room.

She walked into the bathroom, and saw Hiccup leaning against the wall near the hand dryers. His eyes looked red and puffy, but he didn’t look like he had cried yet.

“I’m sorry I said that,” Astrid said. “I shouldn’t have, it was cruel and… I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Is it true?” he asked, not looking at her. “She doesn’t want to see me anymore?”

“That’s…” she began, before continuing, her voice firm. “That’s what she told me yesterday.”

He took in a deep, ragged breath. He looked up at the ceiling for a few long moments, before speaking. “My own daughter hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Astrid told him. “She’s just… scared.”

“I made my daughter _scared_ then,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s much better. I made her life, and your life, so much worse than it was.”

“There wasn’t much you could do,” Astrid said. “I mean, the news were going to run with this story anyway. A mayor’s publicist getting fired over an eleven year scandal? That’s big.”

He nodded, looking at her now. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t want her to hate me. But maybe I was coming on too strong. I just… I don’t know what to do. I don’t know _how_ to be a father. I didn’t have the luxury of figuring it out as I went. When it didn’t matter so much if I didn’t know what I was doing. Where it was _normal_ and _expected_ that I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“If it makes any difference, I _still_ don’t know what I’m doing,” Astrid said, walking over to him and leaning against the wall next to him, with only a hand dryer separating them. “I think that’s normal, for being a parent.”

“But you _are_ her parent,” he said. “She knows you’re her parent. She thinks of you as her parent. She _loves_ you as her parent. She doesn’t…”

“Well, do you love her, yet?” she asked him.

He didn’t reply straight away. “I don’t know,” he said finally, quietly, as if ashamed or hesitant to say it. “I know I will—and soon. I know I’ll… I’ll love her more than I could possibly love anything else in this world. Maybe even more than Toothless,” he offered as proof. “But… how can we start to love each other if she doesn’t want anything to do with me? What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Astrid said. Then she sighed, “It’s my fault that you were robbed of Kylie. I… it’s my fault you never got a chance to be her father.”

He nodded his agreement with this.

“I always rationalized that I had made the right decision,” she continued. “I would lie to myself and say that you would have left anyway. That you still had oats to sow, or places to explore, or a life ahead of you that you couldn’t give up so easily.”

He looked at her. “Did you _really_ believe that?” he asked, his tone hurt.

“No,” she shook her head. “I know that those things were all true, but that, when it came down to it, you wouldn’t have left. You would have stayed with me and been there for us the whole time. I just told myself those things because… because I regretted my decision so much.”

A long silence settled between them, before she spoke again. “I don’t… I’m not sure if I entirely regret it anymore. I might not have met Eret if we hadn’t broken up. I definitely wouldn’t be having this baby,” she rested a hand on her abdomen. “But I find there’s no use thinking about what would have happened if… things had been different. If we hadn’t broken up. Because we did. And it was my fault. _I_ broke up with _you._ But I can only move forward.”

“So what are you saying?” he asked.

“I’m saying… you can grieve, if you want. But that doesn’t change the fact that what happened, happened. And you can only… move forward. You’ll have to take things slow with Kylie. You’ll have to understand that she’s just a kid. Just a child. Things that seem horrible to us are catastrophic to her. This whole thing turned _my_ world upside down, I can’t fathom what it’s like to her. I…” she trailed off for a moment. “I want to get her in to see a therapist.”

Hiccup nodded. “That’s probably be a good idea.”

She took in a breath. This was the moment to ask him to help cover the costs. She and Kylie had never really needed mental health coverage in the past. Technically, a low income single mother and her daughter would have qualified for government assisted health coverage, but Ordony hadn’t wanted her to get involved with any government assistance. He didn’t want her in that system—too easy, he had said, for it to be revealed who the father was.

It wasn’t until years later that Astrid realized this was bullshit. That he just didn’t want her to have any help. True, he didn’t want it to be easy to find out who the father was, but she knew it was his cruel, sadistic nature that made him want her life to be difficult.

Now she could fight him on it. Now, she knew, their contract was null. She could look into government assistance if she wanted to.

But could she ask Hiccup now? To help pay for things until then? She had just made a stink about not wanting his money back in the meeting room, and her pride was desperately trying to forbid her for asking him for help. But Kylie needed help. And _Astrid_ needed help.

“Hiccup…” she began, “I was wondering… I know I said—but if…”

“If what?” he asked, when she trailed off into silence.

“I…” she closed her eyes, forcing her pride to go away. To crawl under a rock and not resurface until this entire day was over. “If you don’t mind, do you think you could—”

A man entered the room, and Astrid stopped talking. The man looked at her in confusion and irritation, and she quickly left the room without looking at Hiccup. She stepped into the hall, where Stoick was waiting for them. Lora was there as well. “Good,” Stoick said, “They’re ready for us.”

She nodded, and soon Hiccup left the room and walked up beside them. “Everything set?” he asked.

Lora nodded. “We didn’t get a chance to go over everything, just talk about what I talked to each of you individually about, and you should be set.”

Hiccup and Astrid nodded, and followed Lora and Stoick to the news room. Three chairs were set for them, and one for the reporter, and they all sat.

“Good luck,” the reporter said, flashing them a smile. His name, if Astrid remembered correctly, was Jake Roade, and he was a reporter for the main local news channel.

Astrid heard one of the cameramen count down, and then Jake launched into speech. “We are here today with those most affected by the scandal brought to attention earlier this week. I’m Jake Roade, and this is Berk News.” He turned to face them. “Here with us is Mayor Haddock, his son, Hiccup Haddock, and the celebrity of tonight, Miss Astrid Hofferson. Mayor Haddock, when did you find out you had a granddaughter?”

“Last Friday,” Stoick replied. “Hiccup told me about her. He found out the night before.”

“And Hiccup,” Jake turned to him, “How did you react when you found out about your daughter?”

Hiccup paused. He didn’t react well, so Astrid understood his hesitation to reply honestly. “I was shocked,” he said, finally. “I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I… What maters now, is that I’m involved in her life. I missed half her childhood, and… I want to make up for that time. I’m her father, and I want to take that role on now.”

“Astrid,” Jake looked at her, “According to our sources, you accepted payment from Mayor Haddock’s former publicist in exchange for keeping the fact that Hiccup was the father of your child secret. What exactly was your thinking for this?”

Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but wasn’t sure what to say. “My family,” she began. “My family had some debts,” she said. “I wanted to be free of those debts, so I accepted payment, yes, from Ordony to keep the child secret. The contract he had come up with was going to force me to give up my daughter. But…I couldn’t do it. I decided to keep the child. Ordony’s terms was that I give up the child, and then after she was born, I could resume my previous life, but when I decided to keep the child, he forced me to cut off contact with almost everyone I knew, including Hiccup and his father.”

“That sounds like it was hard,” Jake said.

“It was,” Astrid said, with honesty.

“What do you three plan to do now that the news is out, and how is your daughter reacting to all of this?” Jake continued.

No one spoke. Jake looked at the three of them expectantly.

“My daughter— _our_ daughter,” Astrid continued, “Is having a difficult time processing this. But I have hope she’ll be able to understand it and come through it. For now, we’re taking things slowly. I don’t want to rush her.”

“Of course,” Jake said, smiling at her benignly. “Hiccup, are you excited to be involved in your daughter’s life from now on?”

“I am,” Hiccup said. “Do I wish I could have been there from the beginning? Of course. But I can’t change the past, I can only move forward,” he glanced at Astrid, before continuing, “So from here on out, I want to be there for Kylie as much as I can.”

“Wonderful,” Jake said, nonchalantly.

“I want to say that I _regretted_ keeping the truth from Hiccup,” Astrid cut in. “I wanted to tell him. He wasn’t he only one who was robbed of Kylie’s life. I was robbed of sharing raising her with him. I was a young girl who was manipulated by a man with self-serving interests. If I could go back and do it over, I hope I could have seen through his deceptions and cruelty, and chosen a path that would have been better and fairer to everyone. Because in the end, I made a mistake. And I pay for it every day.”

Jake nodded, looking at her with a look that was half understanding, half pitying. She wanted to smack it off his face. Finally, he turned to face the camera. “That’s all for today folks. Comment on our site, or use hashtag-Haddock-baby-scandal, and let us know what _you_ think about this. Next time, on Berk News.”

The camera-man announced that they were off the air.

“There’s a _hashtag?”_ she demanded to Hiccup.

“Everything has a hashtag,” he said, getting down from his seat. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said, getting down. “But I feel like I need to lie down.

Hiccup took her by the arm gently and led her from the room. They sat down in some chairs down the hall. “Where’s Kylie?” he asked her.

“With Eret,” she replied, placing a hand on her stomach. She felt nauseas. She _really_ needed to lie down. She needed to sleep. She needed to eat. She wanted to be with Kylie.

“Of course,” he muttered.

She gave him an annoyed look, disliking his tone, before sighing. “I think I’ll head home,” she said.

“I wish I could go with you,” he said. “But I suppose it wouldn’t be good for me to go there, huh?”

“I promised Kylie I wouldn’t force her to see you this weekend,” she answered.

He sighed disparagingly. “My daughter needs to be forced to see me,” he muttered. “This is not how I imagined my first entryway into fatherhood would be like.”

“So you don’t have any other children?” she asked, jokingly.

This time he gave _her_ an annoyed look. “Of course not,” he said. “I mean, I assume not. Now, I’m not so sure. Some other woman might be hiding a child from me, too.”

“I doubt it,” she said. She sighed again. “Look, I’m sorry—I really _am_ sorry for all this. I wish… I wish things could be different.”

“So do I,” he replied.

“I _do_ , Hiccup,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “I never wanted to hurt you. I know it’s too late to say this, but I never stopped…”

She didn’t finish was she was going to say.

How could she?

They had agreed that nothing would ever happen between them. Too much had happened. Too much that they couldn’t recover from. Too much trust betrayed. It wasn’t fair to either of them, and it wasn’t fair to _Kylie._

But somehow, she wanted him to know that she never stopped caring for him.

That that was part of the reason why she never had a serious boyfriend after they broke up. Although being a single mother was partly to blame. Why she had always thought that one day, the three of them could be a family. That he would come back, find her, find them, and they could be together.

She wanted to tell him that she never stopped loving him. That she _still_ loved him, even if that love was faded and bruised and only holding on by bare threads.

But it was too late for that.

That ship had sailed.

And it was never coming back to their harbor.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...
> 
> Next chapter: Astrid shows Hiccup some photo albums...


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for taking so long to post this. Hopefully the next chapter won’t take so long :)

 

 

 

It was dinnertime, by the time she got home. The house was mostly dark, except for the flickering lights of the tv. She slipped in through the front door, silently slipping off her shoes and coat off, and dropping her purse by the shoe rack. Eret and Kylie were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching cartoons, and hadn’t heard her come in.

“Hey,” she said softly, gaining their attention, “I’m home.”

Kylie spun around, looking over the back of the couch at her. “How did it go?” she asked, her eyes wide with worry. Her voice was small—hesitant and scared at what Astrid might say, causing Astrid’s chest to constrict painfully.

“It was…” Astrid sighed. She walked around the couch and sat beside Eret, leaning her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. Kylie laid her head against Astrid’s side, and Astrid in turn put her own arm around Kylie. They sat there watching the TV like that for a while, before Astrid continued. “It was difficult. But we got through it.”

“Hiccup was there?” Kylie asked.

“Yeah, he was there, and his dad, too,” Astrid said.

“Mayor Haddock,” Kylie stated.

“Mayor Haddock,” Astrid agreed. “Your grandfather.”

Eret said nothing through all this. Astrid wondered how he felt about Hiccup. She hadn’t had a chance to ask him how _he_ felt about any of this. Whether he was having a difficult time, dealing with someone suddenly being in their lives. Someone who was, at least biologically, Kylie’s rightful father.

Eret had, since nearly the beginning, embraced the role. Astrid hadn’t lied when she said that Eret had been there every step of the way. She wondered if any of this would be different if Eret wasn’t in the picture—she wouldn’t be pregnant with his child for starters, but would it be easier for Kylie to accept Hiccup if she hadn’t already had the role of a father filled in her life?

She hated to think like that. And she supposed it didn’t matter. Neither she nor Kylie would have it any other way. Eret was essential to their life.

But throughout all this, she hadn’t asked Eret how _he_ was feeling. How he felt about Hiccup being here all of a sudden. How he felt about her lying to him this whole time.

“Eret,” she whispered, “Do you mind if we speak in my room for a moment?”

“Sure,” he said.

Astrid turned to Kylie, kissing her gently on the top of her russet head. “We’ll be right back.”

Astrid and Eret stood, and walked out of the living room and into the hall, from there into Astrid’s bedroom. She closed the door carefully.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

“I just… wanted to ask you how you were doing,” she said, turning to face him properly, crossing her arms.

“How… _I’m_ doing?” Eret looked confused.

“With all this,” she said. “I know it must have shocked you, that Hiccup was Kyie’s father—that he didn’t know. That I lied to everyone, to _you._ Now that Kylie’s biological father is back in the picture, I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright.”

Eret frowned, and after a moment, he sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I was completely fine with all of it,” he said. “I wish you could have told me the truth. You could have trusted me with it.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“Honestly?” he said, “I’d also be lying if I didn’t feel… I don’t know if _threatened_ is the right word… but it’s just… Hiccup is the mayor’s kid. He’s the owner of a successful startup. He’s rich, and successful, and… he’s her father. Her real father.” He paused. “I’m not going to complain if he’s around a lot. I mean, I always assumed one day her father would take an interest, or she would seek him out. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“Me either,” she said. “I almost wish I didn’t run into him in Everille.”

But that was a lie. She didn’t wish that.Not really.

“What about you?” he asked. “You doing okay? With Hiccup back in your life?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I told him we didn’t need him, and that Kylie didn’t want him around. You should have seen his face, Eret. I don’t know why I did it.” She shook her head. “It’s just… with me out of a job, I’m not sure how I can afford anything. Rent is due next week, we need to eat, and more than just _Rosianne’s._ I have my OB/GYN appointments, Kylie needs therapy, _I_ probably need therapy… car insurance, gas, student loans, utilities… and all the countless other expenses I have…”

“So you want to ask him for money?” he asked. He looked… conflicted about this.

Eret often helped out with expenses, especially now that she was pregnant with his child. But he was as strapped for cash as she always was. People on parole often didn’t get given the best jobs, and even though he was now off parole, it was too recent for him to land a decent job. Not to mention people usually had reservations about hiring an ex-convict.

“I don’t know,” she sighed, leaning against the door. “Even if I can get a job—and I don’t think I can by next week, there’s no way I can earn enough money in time to pay everything. I already could barely afford anything before. And I don’t even know if anyone would want to hire me.”

Eret shrugged. “I think there might be some who would,” he said, “Especially as time goes by and people get bored and start to obsess about something new.”

“Clearly you don’t know how judgmental people in Berk can be,” she said. “Everyone makes everything everyone’s business. Maybe we should leave.”

The look on Eret’s face stopped that thought in its tracks. “Of course we won’t,” she said. “Our lives are here. Kylie’s school, her soccer team, her friends, Rose, _you.”_ She waited a few seconds before speaking again. “I just wish this would blow over already. But I feel like it has only just begun.”

Eret shrugged. “If I know you, and I do, you’ll be able to survive it just fine. But that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. You can always ask me for help. And,” he said, shrugging his shoulders with an air of reluctance. “You should feel like you can ask Hiccup for help too. I’m pretty positive he’d be more than happy to help you with finances.”

“But do I _want_ him to help me with finances? Or anything, really?” she asked, giving him a wry smile. “I’m not sure. I don’t want to owe him anything.”

“Why would you owe him anything?” Eret asked. “He’s Kylie’s father.”

“I know but…” Astrid sighed. “I don’t know. With Hiccup, it’ll feel like I have to pay him back. I don’t want him to go out of his way to be involved or feel he has to ‘make up for anything.’ Maybe he can loan me money and I can pay it back bit by bit?”

“I think you’re overthinking this,” Eret said. “In fact, I think he’d be insulted if you asked for a loan.”

“Well, it’s what I feel comfortable with,” she said. “I don’t want to take his money. He doesn’t deserve that.”

Eret shrugged again.

There was a knock at the door, and Astrid opened it.

“What are you guys doing?” Kylie asked, glancing from one to the other. “You’ve been in here a long time.”

“We’re just talking, honey,” Astrid said. “We’ll come out in a moment.”

Kylie nodded, and walked back to the living room.

“Well, thanks for the chat,” Astrid said. Eret nodded, and the two followed Kylie back to the couch. “I’m meeting with Hiccup tomorrow night for dinner,” Astrid said. “To talk things out. I’ll bring it up then.”

“Bring up what?” Kylie asked sharply.

“Just some things,” Astrid said.

“But I don’t have to see him, right?” she asked.

Astrid hesitated, and then nodded. “At least this weekend, you don’t have to see him,” she confirmed.

Kylie breathed a sigh of relief, and returned her attention to the TV.

Astrid caught Eret’s eye, and they shared a worried look.

Maybe she was making a mistake, asking Hiccup for a loan. Maybe Hiccup _would_ be insulted if she asked for one, instead of just asking for help, especially after she had unofficially refused child support.

But her pride was too strong.

She had survived nearly twelve years without his help. She wasn’t going to take charity from him now that he was around.

She would ask for a loan, and if hew wouldn’t give her the money, she would just have to find a job as quickly as possible, and ask her landlord for an extension on the rent. And she’d _probably_ have to default on this month’s school loans… but they’d survive.

Like they always did.

 

* * *

 

“Hi,” she said, sliding into the booth seat across from him. “I almost didn’t see you here.”

“I thought a secluded booth would be best,” he answered. He looked in interest at the large bag she plopped down on the seat beside her.

“I brought photo albums,” she said. “Thought you’d might want to see them.”

It nearly broke her heart, seeing his face light up like a child’s on Christmas. In fact, for a moment, he looked almost like a child himself. As if the concept of looking at old photos was the best idea he had _ever heard._ “I—I mean— _yeah,”_ he said, his words stumbling over each other in his effort to get them out of his mouth.

A waitress came over, and asked them if they were ready to order beverages. They did, and because Astrid was starving, they ordered the meal as well. The waitress left, and Astrid took out the first photo album. “I brought three,” she said. “I have _tons._ I wasn’t really allowed social media—in case, you know, you looked me up and saw I had a conveniently aged daughter, so I printed all my photos and stored them in these, so I had some kind of… record keeping. Memory storage.” She placed the large photos album on the table between them, brushing dust off it. “But I brought the first three,”she opened the cover.

As she turned the photo album towards him, and pushed it towards him gently, his brows furrowed. The first page was of sonograms, and the progression of her pregnancy. Hiccup’s brows furrowed at the sight of these, and for a moment, she wondered if he was disappointed she was showing him these first. Then she realized the look was one of regret. He reached out and brushed his fingers against a picture of a sonogram.

“And on the next page, I’m further along,” she said, turning the page. “There’s only two pages of the pregnancy.”

His eyes immediately switched from the last trimester, to the page next to it. The day Kylie was born.

His breath hitched. He leaned forward, staring intently at the pictures.

Astrid remembered the day like it was yesterday. When she looked at the photos, she saw a girl who was exhausted beyond comprehension, and scared shitless. She saw a girl who didn’t know what she was doing. But she also saw a girl who was utterly in love. She remembered the moment she held Kylie for the first time, and knew she would never love anyone or anything more in her life. She remembered distinctly the moment she decided she would do _anything_ to keep her, even removing everyone she knew and loved from her life. She wondered what Hiccup saw, when he looked at these.

“Who took these photos?” he asked, finally.

“One of the nurses,” she said. “Part of the deal with Ordony was to cut off all connections with my old life. Snotlout was, of course, a no-go. He’s your cousin, so…I couldn’t have him around. And Fishlegs and the twins are friends of yours, and they would have figured out pretty quick who Kylie’s father was.”

Hiccup looked up at her, a wretched look on his face. “So you started your new life with a baby and no one… to help you?”

“Kind of,” she shrugged, trying to mask the regret that gnawed at her every time she thought of her old friends. “But I got friends pretty quick. Now that everything is out in the open, maybe I should look everyone up. Of course, they probably want nothing to do with me,” she joked.

“You know that’s not true,” Hiccup said, looking back at the pictures. He turned the page, looking at the next set. In these, it shows Astrid nursing, and countless of a sleeping newborn Kylie.

“I had trouble feeding her,” Astrid said. “I was only able to take a week or two off work—and I went back too soon.” She smiled wryly. “I cried in the bathroom on my breaks the first day back. I was still in pain from birth, and my breasts were killing me, and I was so worried about Kylie, even though she was being taken care of. I just want to be home with her.”

Hiccup looked up at her again, a look of deep concern on his face. He opened his mouth, but closed it with a snap. He looked back at the page. “No maternity leave? You couldn’t get… I don’t know… any assistance? Financial, I mean. From the government?”

“I worked a crappy part-time retail job with no benefits that would have just replaced me if I stayed home too long,” she said, shrugging. “As for government assistance, I might have been able to, but Ordony made me—”

Hiccup’s head snapped up, staring at her. “Ordony made you fend for yourself?” he demanded. “Please tell me you at least got healthcare through the government.”

She shook her head.

Hiccup swore under his breath, leaning back in his seat, a furious look on his face. “That son of a bitch,” he muttered.

She wondered if this was the moment to ask for a loan, but decided she needed to butter him up first. She would let him get through at least this picture album, maybe the second one, before she broached the subject. She didn’t fancy getting shot down straight away.

“We can skip to when she start’s rolling over,” she offered. “It’s towards the end—”

“No,” he shook his head firmly. “I want to look at every one.”

“Well,” she replied, smiling softly at him. “I don’t have all night, but you can borrow these. Maybe some other time I can show you the videos I took of her walking.”

He nodded. “I’d love that.”

She watched as he looked through each page carefully, and she explained the different milestones or situations to him. They were on the third album, when Kylie was almost two, when Eret began to show up. At the sight of the first picture with him, holding Kylie, wearing matching hats, Kylie’s much, much too big for her toddler head, Hiccup frowned, his expression falling.

Astrid licked her lips worriedly. The rest of the photo album featured Eret heavily. The farther into the photo album series one got, closer and closer to present day, the more Eret showed up. Hiccup’s frown deepened the farther he went.

“I won’t show you album five,” she said, half joking. “The three of us went camping.”

He looked up, a troubled look on his face. Finally, he grabbed album one and looked at the third page, the one with newborn Kylie. Astrid ate the last of her curly fries, having already finished her salad and hamburger. “I should have been there,” he said, staring at one picture where she was smiling tiredly, holding a crying Kylie. “I should have been there for all of this.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m so sorry you weren’t.”

He didn’t console her, or deflect her guilt. He merely continued to look at the pictures. His own food was mostly untouched, as he was too engrossed in looking through the albums to eat. She glanced at her watch. It was eight thirty. She needed to get home soon. “Hiccup,” she said. “I need to get going.”

He looked up, startled. “Sure,” he said. “You can go, if you like—I’ll pay.”

“No,” she said, putting up her hand. “I’ll split the cost—”

“ _Please,_ Astrid, let me do something,” he said.

She blinked, and nodded. “Hiccup,” she said, “I was hoping… I…”

He looked up, giving her a quizzical look. Her pride was screaming at her, forbidding her to ask him for help. Even a _loan_ was to close to acquiring charity from him. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to keep going. “You know I lost my job, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. “The internship. Did they tell you why?”

She shrugged. “Unwanted attention from the press, I guess.”

Hiccup groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Anyway,” she said. “I’m working on applying to some new ones, but… I…” she tapped the table with her fingers, willing herself to keep going. “Rent is due next week, and I have student loans, and I have OB/GYN appointments, health insurance… birthing classes, and I want Kylie to get therapy, and—”

“Are you asking for money?” Hiccup asked, taking his hands away from his face to look at her.

She felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. _This was a mistake._ “No,” she said. “I’m not asking for charity. I’m just asking if… you can lend me some money until I can get a job. I’ll pay you back, with interest,” she added. “So you don’t have to worry—”

“ _Astrid,_ ” he said, his voice sharp. “You’re asking me for a _loan?”_

She paused, and nodded.

“You…” he stared at her. “You’re asking me for a _loan.”_

“Forget I said anything,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry, it’s inappropriate to—”

“Inappropriate?” he frowned, a confused look on his face. He looked dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe she dared to ask him for money. She wondered if the thermostat in the room was showing elevated heat temperatures, with how hot her cheeks were.

“I shouldn’t ask you for money,” she said. “That’s not… your responsibility. I’m sorry. Forget I asked.”

He stared at her. “Astrid… I’m not angry you’re asking for money, I’m upset you think I expect you to pay me back.”

She blinked. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it. “I mean,” he continued. “Why would you pay me back? Why do you think I wouldn’t give you and Kylie _anything_ I was capable of giving you?”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I’m so used to doing things on my own… I guess I don’t want you to feel like you’re responsible for us.”

He sat back in his seat, staring at her. When he spoke, he sounded exhausted. “My daughter, who I just found out about, who is almost halfway through growing up, doesn’t want anything to do with me. And I’m not going to force her to see me or be around me because I’m not an ass, and I want her to _want_ to get to know me. And while you were,” he motioned to the album in front of him. “Taking care of her by yourself all these years, I was merely focused on myself and building my business. If you think I’m not going to do everything in my power to make your lives easier…” he shook his head. “Then you don’t know me at all.”

She met his gaze. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just assumed you’d…”

“You assumed what?” he asked, his voice tense.

“I guess I just assumed, when you did find out, you wouldn’t have wanted…”

“What? To be involved? To help you?” he asked. He made an face. “Please don’t insult me.”

After a long moment, she finally spoke. “Okay.”

_“Please,_ let me help you two,” he said. “Please let me feel like I’m doing _something right._ Okay? Kylie might want nothing to do with me but I can at least… offer her… support in other ways. Let me do that.”

“Okay,” she said again. She glanced at her watch. “I should really get going,” she said, rising from her seat.

“Do you mind if I keep these?” he asked, “I’ll drop them off at your house on Sunday.”

“Okay,” she said. “Just don’t lose them.”

“I won’t let them out of my sight,” he promised, with a lop sided grin.

She smiled, wondering if he might actually be telling the truth, thanked him for the meal, and left to get in her car.

As she drove back to her house, she hoped Hiccup would stay enthusiastic about being in Kylie’s life. She hoped Kylie would realize Hiccup wasn’t scary or worth being frightened over. That it was safe to get to know him. That he wasn’t entirely to blame for the fact that her life as now totally different and not in a good way.

She hoped that things would start to turn around soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued…
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Till next time!
> 
> [on a side note, I clearly enjoyed writing short sentences when i wrote this chapter, haha... goodness...)


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